Sucker Academy
by Leah C. Drawn
Summary: Dear Diary: Today has been a crazy day. There's a tall Russian telling me there's a thing like Monroes, Stracci, and Shitpirs. Mom told me dad isn't really my dad and apparently my best friend is engaged to Queen Vaseline and my ex boyfriend is in love with Dracosmear's lesbo friend -at least he didn't write Twilight, or else I would've had to kill him. Alex Wind is the name, hon.
1. Alex Wind: A Force To Be Reckoned With

**Disclaimer: Richelle Mead is the owner of Vampire Academy and the Bloodlines series. I do not own either, but I do own Alexandra Wind and everything that happens to her. **

**This is a fanfiction that involves a main character not seen before in the book series, seeing as I created her completely. This is more of a crackfic, at least I hope, and I'm going to try to give the characters some justice. For some, they're _very_ out of character, but it was merely so that it would make sense in my story. Some parts are left unexplained in the two book series about some characters, and it is my wish to give hindsight into who they are and what's happened to them.**

**Enjoy :D**

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I looked behind me warily.

I was scared, that much I could admit without trouble. Never in my life had I been followed... And certainly not by a hot guy. Sexy. Handsome. I didn't really care about adjectives that could describe him, so much as losing him from my tail.

I didn't even understand why he was going after me, seeing as I dressed like a hobo and didn't even carry a watch.

Mom was right. Maybe New York _was_ dangerous.

Of course, she meant dangerous for her money since I liked going to Broadway almost every Friday, but whatever.

I took an unexpected turn and pressed hard against the wall of what turned out to be a dead-end alley. I prayed he'd been unfocused by the myriad of people out there, but when he took the same turn, I realized three things: he was a skilled stalker, he was a tourist and he really was sexier up close.

He didn't expect it to be an dead-end alley either, but I didn't take him by surprise when I tried to hit him with a stray piece of wood.

As a matter of fact, he effortlessly broke the thing in two. By his surprised eyes, I guessed he didn't expect to break it in front of me either.

That was when I decided I wasn't only afraid; I was scared shitless out of my mind.

Then again, it was New York City and I should have expected this sooner.

I wanted to say I was brave and faced him seriously; that I threatened to call the police if he didn't stop being such a creeper, or that I kneed him in the balls.

Nope; I threw myself at his feet and sobbed to him not to kill me with his ninja hands.

But really; having seen a man so frightening just snap a piece of wood it was a wonder I hadn't asked for a last thing to say to my mommy.

Maybe pleading to a tall guy was the last thing I'd say.

However, the man just found me amusing, and told me to get up in a deep, sexy voice.

Hey, I always was an obedient child.

No less than two seconds later, I was standing at my full height and wiping tears away from my honey brown eyes, disregarding the fact that his six foot seven self overpowered my five foot three body by a long shot.

Damn. Now he was making me feel smaller than I already knew I was.

"Why did you think I would kill you?" the man asked, his voice amused and with a slight accent.

I sniffled.

"One, you were following me like a creeper. Two, you're built like a Iron Man. And three... It's New York."

Even if the man remained impassive, his mouth turned up the smallest bit, alerting me to the fact he found me entertaining.

I would never understand tall people.

"Me killing you is the least of your worries, specially at night.," he pointed out, but I didn't really understand what he meant.

What was worse than being killed at night?

"What's worse? Being stabbed by a freaking Oompa Loompa?" I considered it. "Huh, maybe you're right."

He looked at me like I was a freak. And hey, maybe I was.

He was about to say something, but then thought better of it.

_Smart man. _

"Not Oompa Loompas or whatever that is. Strigoi, of course." his face was impassive again, and I had to cross my arms in barely restrained annoyance. I was already annoyed at having to look up at him to talk, and now he was mocking me? Not fair.

"Right. Strigoi. Or maybe the Queen of Genovia while we're at it."

The guy looked confused at my references.

Okay, he hadn't heard of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I could understand that. But seriously, was he a social freak that he hadn't read or seen The Princess Diaries?

God; tall men.

_You could never understand them. _

"Okay... Your name is Alexandra Wind, right?"

Was it okay to hate my father's last name?

"Who wants to know?" I spoke cryptically.

Rule number one in NYC: never give out your identity, even if it's pretty fucking clear they already know who you are.

"I'm Guardian Dimitri Belikov. I work for Queen Vasilisa."

I waited a couple minutes, trying to pretend like I knew what he was talking about.

I gave up quickly enough.

"You don't seem high or drunk to me, but then are you schizophrenic? Iron Man, I have no clue what you're talking about." however, I felt pity for the 'Guardian'. "But yeah, I'm Alex."

"Good." he said, and then jerked his head to the outing of the alley. I shrugged my shoulders and raised an arched eyebrow.

"Is this-" I imitated his jerky movement. "- supposed to mean anything to me?"

He regarded me with cautious eyes.

"It means, follow me." I didn't like his tone; I felt like he was treating me like a goddamn dog.

"I know it does. But what makes you think I'll just follow a possible murderer?" I inquired, wrinkling my button nose in distaste.

"Because we're both Dhampirs, and you can trust me."

That was enough.

"Okay, I'm done with you, Psycho. First, you say shit about a Queen Vaseline. Then, you say you're a Something and now you're telling me I'm one too? Sorry, dude, I don't buy it. You're freaking me out, and putting me in a bad mood."

I chose to leave out the part where I was in a bad mood because I was hungry, not because of him.

"Queen Vasilisa, Alex." Belikov corrected me. I arched another eyebrow, because in all this time I hadn't lowered the other one.

"That's what I said." I retorted in a 'duh' voice.

"No, you said Queen Vaseline."

"Same difference."

"Look, as much as I'd love for us to stay here and bicker, it's not safe out here, and we have to get you out of here as soon as possible. They're expecting you at court."

Suddenly, I was_ way_ more receptive to whatever he had to say.

"No, no! I swear I didn't do it, Belikov, it was an accident! I didn't mean to run over that stupid fluffy thing, and I swear I'll buy Mrs. Willows another damn cat! Please!" I moaned, grabbing the lapels of his long duster (damn, he must've been burning up) and smashing my nose to his chest, then slowly dragged down until I was on my knees and holding unto the ends of his coat.

It smelled nice.

"Not _that_ court." Belikov pried my hands away, and I could've sworn he muttered something about us being identical -whoever the other person was.

I heaved a sigh of relief.

"Oh. I -I was just joking." I darted my eyes around the place.

Apparently, Dimitri Belikov's patience wasn't as endless as I once thought.

He hauled me up from my once-again begging position, and dragged me all the way home.

Yeah, he knew where I lived like the good big stalker he was.

I went in the apartment just like any other day. Jenny was away, starting college, and dad was still out working. Mom was sitting in the kitchen, piecing a puzzle together.

Bo-ring!

"Hey mom! This is my new stalker, his name is Dimitri. Belikov, this is my mother, Melissa." I introduced them, but it was as though my mother had seen a ghost.

"Dhampir..." my mother gasped, and made a 'go kill yourself' gesture. Not really. It was an x over her left shoulder, the motion she did, but she might as well have told him to stick it where the sun don't shine.

Dimitri, however, was confused.

"She's human." he said, and I made a duh motion with my hands and pulled a stupid face.

I was pretty sure I looked sexy.

"Of course. Aren't you?"

And then it seemed like everything was clear for Dimitri, and he kept looking between my mother and me.

"She doesn't know, does she?" Dimitri asked my mother, who now looked ready to burst into tears. She shook her head, and Dimitri sighed.

"Should've known with the Queen comment." he muttered to himself. Then he looked up, addressing my mother.

Parenthesis: I just wanted to remark how absolutely _hot_ he looked with shoulder length brown hair, chocolate eyes and tanned skin.

Suddenly, my similar olive skin and near black curly brown hair didn't seem as boring as before. The difference between him and me was I was tanner and his hair lacked the volume and curls mine had. And height, sex, age and everything else.

"Her father is a Moroi, isn't he? You didn't know." Dimitri continued, and now my mom did start crying, even if she still shook her head. I hit his ribs (what was easier to reach) and glared.

"Why'd you make her cry, ass?" I hissed at him, and glared even harder. "I have no idea what a Monroe-"

"Moroi"

"-Monroe is, but my father is a healthy man. If you mean white, then yes, that's what he is." I ignored his interruption.

I wasn't aware he was racist against Latina women.

My mom shook her head.

Why couldn't she nod, do something different?

"He means a Moroi, sweetheart. A vampire."

My world spun.

My mother wouldn't even let me read Twilight, and she was telling me my father was a goddamn vampire?

I was about to protest and ask if I was being pranked, but Dimitri beat me to it.

Fuck him and his height, making him think he's all high and mighty.

"I have been requested by the court to take her into hiding, in Montana. St. Vladimir's Academy. We're going to Idaho first, though, to the royal court. Surely, you know something about that?" my mother nodded, and even if I was grateful she wasn't shaking her head anymore, I was befuddled.

What exactly were they talking about?

And why was my world still spinning?

I realized I was gripping my hair by the roots and spinning in a tight circle, murmuring that it was all a joke, so I stopped.

"Mom? You're going to let him take me away?" my pitch rose, and at least she had the decency to look ashamed.

"There's nothing really I can do, honey. They want you; they won't stop till they got you-" that would make a great song... Not the time or place, Alex. "-and unfortunately, they want you now. I did my best in keeping you from that life, but it wasn't enough, I guess."

I wanted to shoot Dimitri on the foot for making my mom cry.

Ya know, if I actually owned a goddamned gun.

About an hour later, I was packed with two suitcases containing almost all of my life, which meant clothes, shoes and legal documents.

After a teary goodbye from my mother, and a promise to tell my dad I loved him, I was mounting a private plane to Idaho.

I decided I was going to pester Dimitri into telling who the Monroe's were and what in the hell a Dhampir was.

It turned out it wasn't all that difficult to get him to speak about it, only the answers were a bit short. You'll soon see it was sarcasm.

"What is a Monroe?"

"Moroi. A race of vampires. No, they don't kill humans, they drink from specific people. The endorphins sometimes drive these people crazy, but they don't feel a thing. Moroi are sensible to the light, so they run on a night schedule. All Moroi are pale, tall and skinny. Each Moroi has the ability to control fire, water, earth, air or spirit."

"What are Shitpirs?"

"Half vampires, half human. We aren't as tall, usually, or skinny as Moroi; we're stronger and with more reflexes. However, it's been centuries since a Moroi mated again with a human, instead the Moroi mate with a Dhampir, which just produces a Dhampir. Dhampirs are infertile amongst each other, and we are the race that's supposed to take care of Moroi from Strigoi."

Well, the next question was a pretty obvious one.

"What are Monroes, then, seven feet tall?" I exclaimed in outrage, figuring everyone would laugh at my height. He gave me an 'I'm-not-amused' glance from his seat in front of me.

"No. Women are about five foot nine to six feet two, usually, while men are an inch or two higher."

Bitches with their height.

"What are Stracci?" this question took him a bit longer to answer (maybe also figuring out I meant Strigoi), and I noticed how his eyes turned hard.

"Abominations. They are undead creatures that were once human, Dhampir or Moroi, and kill all of their victims without even thinking of the consequence. They have pasty white skin and red eyes, and only a charmed silver stake can kill them or slice their heads and burn them. They can't go out in the daylight."

I cracked my knuckles, ignoring Dimitri's pained face at the noise.

"Do you have a _gurrrl_?"

The sickly sweet expression on his face told me he did, indeed, have one.

"Yes. Her name is Rose Hathaway." I froze; the name rang a bell.

However, I shrugged it off, cause no way was he talking about the same Rose. She had to be, what, nineteen, twenty soon?

The Rose Hathaway I knew was two years ahead of me, but it had been a while since I'd heard of her.

"Tell me about you." Dimitri suddenly said, and regarding him thoughtfully, I decided to tell him the stupid stuff.

"I'm originally from Portland; I moved away about three months before I turned seventeen, and now I'm in New York." I hesitated. "Was."

Dimitri followed me with his eyes dutifully, like I was an experiment.

"You're a lot calmer than I expected. Five hours ago you didn't know about vampires and you were still living in New York; that must be a lot to take in." he didn't mention the fact that I learnt my father was apparently not who I thought he was.

Scratch that -I learnt he wasn't my father.

I shrugged though, and smiled at the attending that brought me a cup of diet coke.

"It doesn't matter, not really. Monroes do come off as a surprise, but I always kind of knew there was something different about me. There's not much I can do or say to make this not be real. And my family will still be there, and they still love me, so I guess that all I can do is buckle up for the ride." I answered thoughtfully, and Dimitri looked dully impressed by my answer.

"You sound wiser than seventeen. You remind me of Rose."

Being compared to a namesake of that bitch wasn't something I liked.

"Well, I can't really argue with you on that, since I don't know who Rose is." I pointed out and took a sip of my drink. I stared at the ice cubes that slowly melted, and looked at him out of the corner of my eye. He was watching me. "Who sent you here to fetch me?"

Sure, 'fetch' was normally used on dogs, but that's what I felt I was to him.

"The court. He seemed to know you personally." he said, and crossed a long leg over the other. I turned to face him fully.

"I don't assume you'll tell me who he is." he shook his head. "Fine. When are we getting to hell?"

"Idaho."

"Again I ask you, Big Foot, when will we be getting to hell?"

"Now." he said airily, just as the captain announced our arrival. Apparently, time flew by when you were being informed of a whole other world.

Nerves suddenly cramped up my throat.

We would be landing directly in court. We'd be landing in the midst of vampires and Dhampirs.

Somehow, that didn't sound pleasing to me at all.

Ten minutes later, the door was opening and a ladder was being placed so we could get down.

I, for one, was ready to throw up my lunch.

Dimitri went first. The captain told me I had to get off, but my hands wouldn't let go of the bathroom's door.

The attending managed to pry my fingers off the door, and basically threw me down the stairs.

Bitch.

I looked down the entire time I was going down. I didn't dare look up for the fear of knowing who awaited me and falling flat on my face.

I wouldn't look too good with a bloody nose.

Finally, there were no more steps. I could hear Dimitri saying something in the distance, and then I heard a familiar voice shout.

"ALEX!"

My gaze snapped up. They were met with crystal blue eyes, and in the next second I was enveloped in Christian Ozera's arms.

"Oh God, Alex, it's been such a long time..." Christian murmured, holding me tightly. I had my arms wrapped around him as soon as he crashed into me, and I couldn't help but hug him tighter. Then I pulled back and hit him on the chest.

He winced and rubbed the spot through his pristine blue shirt, but I wasn't done.

"_CHRIS!_ I have half a mind not to just murder you right now." I hissed, and we both knew I'd already lost that 'half a mind' somewhere along the way of being born.

I wasn't murdering him for the simple fact that there were witnesses.

Let's just say Mr. Fluffy's death wasn't accidental.

Christian had the decency to look chastised.

"I'm sorry, Alex." he murmured pathetically, and I hit his chest again for good measure.

"Sorry? _SORRY?_ We were best of friends for fourteen years, and you didn't bother to freaking tell me you were a goddamn vampire or Shitpir?" I snarled at him, and hit him again. "Bad dog." I hissed at him, just like I used to when we were kids and he'd do something to annoy me.

A throat cleared behind me, and I turned slowly.

Lissa Dragomir.

"You." I hissed venomously, and turned farther to her left my gaze. My eyes met Rose Hathaway's startled dark eyes. "You fucking bitch." I screeched at her, and lunged to the easiest target.

Miss Dracosmear.

However, I didn't make it that far.

Christian was holding me by the waist before I could even fathom to scratch one of her pretty blonde hairs.

"What are you doing, Chris? Let me go! Bitch needs to die!" collective gasps could be heard throughout the place, and Hathaway glared at me as though I'd personally offended her.

Right. I had. She was her lesbian friend, after all.

"Alex, meet Queen Vasilisa Dragomir and her guardian Rose Hathaway. Lissa is my girlfriend." his whole sentence had left me paralyzed. Why?

One: I almost attacked Queen Vaseline.

Two: CHRISTIAN HAS A _GIRLFRIEND_?

Three: Rose is Dracosmear's what?

Four: _CHRISTIAN OZERA_ HAS A BITCH OF A GIRLFRIEND?

Yeah, my favorite word was bitch.

I turned to look at Dimitri, who didn't seem very fond of me at the moment for calling his girl a bitch.

Five: HOT DIMITRI IS WITH _ROSE BITCHAWAY_?

Oh dear, I was a bit dizzy.

Christian started to let his hold on me lose a bit, when I caught sight of Queen Vaseline's crown.

I saw red, blue, green... Every single color of the rainbow except black.

That would've been bad.

Hey, that rhymed!

"Oh, Queen Vaseline needs to fucking die." I hissed to myself, but Christian's hold on me tightened again. Right. He was still many inches higher and stronger than me.

Ass.

"Alex, what is your problem? Do you know them?" Christian whispered in my ear, and I rejoiced in seeing Queen Dracosmear tense. I smiled at her smugly.

"Know them? They ruined my sister's life -fine, Bitchaway more so than Dracosmear, but whatever. Dracosmear over here-" I half expected her to wave awkwardly, but she just glared at me. "-and Bitchaway over there-" another hateful glare. "-made sure Jenny got drunk enough to make a fool out of herself and crash into a tree. She's in a wheelchair now." I hissed out the last part, and Dracosmear rolled her eyes.

"We didn't make her do anything. She drank because she wanted." she countered, and I hissed at her while trying to wrench free. Christian crushed my ribs.

On second thoughts, I liked being where I was very much.

"Oh yeah, because her hobby is going to parties and drinking herself into oblivion. She thought you two were her friends, but you were just using her to get a good roommate!" my sister was dorm matron, and could do that (assign roommates or change them).

Dracosmear looked a bit ashamed, but Bitchaway didn't look the least bit regretful.

"Looky here, Wind, you better back off. I have no qualms about making you regret ever being born."

I turned to look at Dimitri, and glared at him instead.

"I liked you, Iron Man. Not anymore. A friend of hers isn't a friend of mine. Specially her boyfriend." I turned to glare at both bitches.

I realized Christian was still holding me like a ragged doll one foot off the ground.

"Ozera, let me fucking go."

I didn't have to tell him twice.

He spun me around and I had a bit of trouble looking into his angry blue eyes.

It hurt to look into them.

"Be nice, Alex. I know it's been over a year since I last spoke to you, but you can't have possibly forgotten good manners, could you?"

The fight left me.

"Ok, I'll play nice. For you. Even if you're on my dark list because you're fuck buddies with Queen Dracosmear." I said, and I knew he liked the name I gave Lissa despite the fact that he was glaring. "How's Aunt Tasha?" I inquired, stuffing my hands in my pocket. He tensed, and I had a bad feeling about that.

"She got in trouble." but he wouldn't elaborate further than that.

I gave him an annoyed huff.

"Sounds like her." I muttered, and then realized something. "How much trouble?"

His shuffling feet told me.

"Oh, Chris..." I trailed off, and hugged him tightly.

At least one of the mysteries of why he was so tall had been revealed.

"Hellhound, please keep your thorns off Sparky." Bitchaway bitched from behind me.

"Bitchaway, are you jealous?" I taunted, but let him go. I frowned, though, and looked up (damn) at Christian. "Sparky? Chris, did you set fire to your school again?"

Christian Ozera will forever be related in my mind to be a pyromaniac.

Christian shifted uncomfortably, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"My element is fire, Alex." my ex best friend confessed. When I glanced at Bitchaway and Queen Vaseline, they had smug looks, obviously pleased that I was left out of a big part of Chris.

Oh hell to the no, bitch, smugness is my second middle name.

First one being Bitch.

"God, you people are annoying." I hissed. I shoved Christian away from me, and swatted his arm away when he tried to pull me in another hug. "Get your hands off me, Vozera (ya know, Vampire and Ozera mixed). I can't believe we've known each other all of our lives, and you never thought to tell me you turn into a bat." I held my hand up when he was about to say he didn't turn into bats. "I don't care you couldn't, I thought you trusted me more than that. Edward told fucking _Bella_ he was a glittering vamp, didn't he, even if he couldn't? But YOU CAN'T FUCKING TELL ME YOU TURN INTO A SHITTY NON-SPARKLING BAT!"

I glared at Christian one last time before stomping away from there, not even giving Hotkov, Bitchaway, Dracosmear or Vozera another glance.

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**So I hope you liked the first chapter of Sucker Academy, it's something I've been working on for a while and until now had the courage to post. Hopefully you didn't hate it and want to see more of Alexandra Wind, who, as you've already noticed, speaks fluent sarcasm and is a pro at babbling. I also hope you laughed as much as I did when I was writing this story.**

**Until next time (hopefully),**

**Leah C. Drawn**


	2. Jet Steele: What An Asshole

**Disclaimer: Again, I own nothing except for a few of the characters. **

**By the way, just in case you're wondering, yes, this is rated M for a reason. I promise nothing, but, I know you all will like it. :D**

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Apparently, leaving angrily in a place you've never even heard of wasn't a smart idea.

I got lost between buildings and yards, and until about half an hour later I was sitting on the damp grass, watching the sun starting to rise.

But I needed a moment to think, even if I was forever lost in the Castle of Nightmares.

Okay, this is what happened today (yesterday, apparently): I was stalked by Hotkov, then I was dragged away from home without saying goodbye to my dad (or whatever he was), or my sister. Afterwards, on a plane to freaking Idaho I was told that such things as bloodsucking Monroes, Shitpirs and Zombies existed, and then that my childhood best friend was a bloodsucking Monroe, and that one enemy was my fucking Queen and her bitch was of my kind.

Yippy-ya-fucking-yay.

"Alexandra?" a deep voice called frantically, and frowning, I turned to where the voice came from.

It belonged to no other than Jet Steele.

"Jet?" I gasped, and watched as he rushed over to where I was sitting. I quickly stood up and gripped him hard.

Jet and I met last summer. He was in Portland, and we met when I was waitressing for a couple bucks an hour. He came in with his six foot one self, green eyes, styled messy brown hair and haunted smile. His soul seemed broken, but he never spoke of his pains. I was sixteen, soon to be seventeen, and he was twenty-one. He said he was from Idaho, and was there to get away from reality.

I fell in love with him, and I'd been pretty sure he'd been in love with me. But then when he just up and left, I got the feeling I was no more than a conquest.

Feeling the anger coming back to me, I pushed him away from me. Then I slapped him and sat down.

"I suppose I deserved that." he mumbled, and sat down next to me.

"Suppose." I scoffed, and crossed my arms. "You deserve so much more, you asshole. You deserve me to cut off your balls and use them as earrings. You deserve me to smash one of your bottles of whiskey on your head and not take you to the emergency room, letting you bleed to death. You deserve-" Jet slapped a hand over my mouth, shutting me up effectively. I licked his hand, but he didn't remove it.

"Oh Alex, I've missed you." Jet chuckled brightly, and when I bit his hand, he finally removed his hand. "Still feisty, I see." he flashed me a heart-stopping grin.

I glared at him venomously.

"What are you doing here, Jet? You're Monroe, as far as I can guess. Should've known because of your height."

"Alex, everyone's taller than you."

"And this is why you are such an ass, using my weaknesses against me." I scowled; I knew I never should've told him I hated people so much taller than me.

Admittedly, that's why when Hotkov said Monroes were tall I didn't think of anyone in particular.

Jet smiled at me, and I felt a bit of my anger waver.

Not by much, though.

"I'm a royal, actually. And I won't even bother to correct you that we're Moroi, cause I'm sure you already know." yeah, I did.

"Royal?" my eyes widened, then narrowed. "Don't tell me you're related to Queen Vaseline." I hissed her name, and he rolled his eyes. I narrowed my eyes further. "Don't tell me you're friends with Dracosmear."

You see? He laughed at my name for her.

_Was that so hard, Christian?_

"She's a sort of friend-" I started to get up, disgusted at him. He gripped my wrist and didn't let me get up. "-more than anything because she's also a spirit user, and that's quite hard to come by. We have to lean on each other to learn about our magic."

Did I _look_ like I cared?

"Jet-"

"It's Adrian." Jet corrected me and I frowned. "My real name is Adrian Ivashkov, Alex, not Jet. I said my name was Jet because I wasn't sure if you knew or not you were a Dhampir, and if you were and knew I as an Ivashkov, well, I knew you'd treat me differently."

I was seething. Past that point, I wasn't only angry; I was upset, I was fucking furious, I felt betrayed and like a fool.

Add to the list of things that had happened today that my ex was a lying Monroe that quite possible knew I was shitpir before I did.

This time, when I made to stand up, Adrian let me.

"What other bomb do you want to drop on me, huh? That you're also in love with Dracosmear's lesbian friend, Bitchaway? That you're actually forty years old? That you're a CIA agent? Or that you're my father? Huh? Or maybe you want to tell me that you're the one to blame for fucking Twilight." I growled at Adrian, and could almost feel anger seeping through my every pore. Was it pathetic even when I was angry, I was making insults?

Adrian, however, looked guilty.

I gasped.

"Oh my God, don't tell me you wrote Twilight! I'll kill you, right now!" I made a move to strike, but Adrian shook his head profusely and swallowed.

"Rose -we dated. For a while, but she was always in love with Dimitri Belikov. I never stood a chance." Adrian's voice broke, and even if it tugged at my heart-strings that Hotkov won Bitchaway's love, knowing that Adrian fell in love with another girl hurts more.

"When did you meet Bitchaway, and where?" I grumbled quietly, still sitting up.

"Two Decembers ago in Pennsylvania, in a ski lodge." Adrian admits, and I felt like he just grabbed my heart and threw it on the ground, then brought a horse to stump all over it.

About six months before he met me, I whimpered to myself. He was in love with her when we met. That explained why his soul seemed broken, why he couldn't stop drinking even for a day.

At least now I had another reason to hate Rose Bitchaway.

"Do you... Do you still love her?" I asked tentatively, because I already knew the answer and I had a feeling it would break me even more. More so if I asked for how long he'd loved her

"Yes. No. There was someone else, too." Adrian said without hesitation, and looking at him, so... Hollow, I knew that they'd broken a perfectly healthy man.

"Everyone's been lying to me my whole life, and then when I at least held hope that one person that had been important to me was gone but hadn't lied -you disappoint me. It seems like the only person truthful to me is Jenny, and she doesn't get along with me anymore, thanks to fucking Dracosmear and Bitchaway." my voice broke, and suddenly, I was yanked down to sit on Adrian's lap, where I curled up and controlled my emotions with some difficulty.

I fell asleep. I wasn't sure where Adrian took me, or even how he'd found a room when you could get lost as soon as you turned right, but the fact was that soon enough I felt myself being carried and lain on a comfy bed, where I woke up close to sunset alone.

I looked around me; my suitcases were organized against the wall opposite to the door, just at the foot of the bed. The room reminded me of boarding school dormitories: a bed, a closet, a desk, a chair and a window.

Except the bed was soft and comfortable, the chair wasn't ugly, the desk was big and black, the closet with more than enough space, and the window looked out to a pretty garden, now covered in twilight.

It looked better than my bedroom back at New York.

Insert sad face here.

A knock resounded through the room, and conscious of my disgusting appearance, I opened it warily. I had a bird's nest for hair, my makeup was streaking down my cheeks, my breath reeked, and I was still wearing yesterday's clothes.

And in front of me was the ex love of my life.

"What are you doing here?" I grumbled, and then sneezed. Even if my breath reeked, he reeked double of cigarettes and vodka.

"Hey, Alex." Adrian greeted cheerfully, and pushed past me to sit on my bed. I closed the door and glared at him from where I was.

"I'm guessing you have a good reason to be here when nobody else is up. Shouldn't you have disintegrated for being under the sun?"

"You're so funny, Alexandra." Adrian deadpanned, and I flashed him a sarcastic smile. "I do have a good reason to be here, Helly." oh God, he got informed Bitchaway called me a hellhound. "As you probably guessed, my sources have informed me of what happened yesterday." I waited patiently by the foot of the bed, my arms crossed over the other and my foot tapping. "Sparky is your friend?"

"Was. Bitch lied to me for fourteen years."

"Oh come on, do you think he could tell you he was a vampire?"

"I told him about the scar on my right ass cheek. I let him _see_ it. That speaks enough about how much I trusted him, and how much he should've trusted me." I retorted angrily, blushing softly because Adrian, too, had seen that scar.

His mischievous smile told me he was thinking the same thing.

"I remember that scar. Tell me again how you got it?"

"I sat down on a nail gun and pressed the trigger when I leaned back. But that's not the point. Point is, Vozera lied to me, and I want my revenge."

Instead of rolling his eyes at me like most people did or simply laughing or just fucking stare at me weirdly, Adrian pointed a fat (not really) finger at me and started laughing his ass off.

I stared at him as though he'd just pulled out The Odyssey out of his ass.

"What's so funny?" I snapped, contorting my face into a god-awful frown. I was sure I looked lovely.

"You sitting down on a nail gun!" Adrian cackled. I was not amused. After about ten minutes of him laughing and me steaming, he finally calmed down enough to speak. "It's gonna be virtually impossible for you to make Sparky pay for lying. You do one thing to his head and Lissa will have the whole royal guard against you -and Rose will lead them, of course."

"I knew those two lesbos would be the bane of my existence." I mumbled to myself, straightened, and gazed impassively at Adrian. "I still haven't forgiven you, either, Ishkaliar. I almost never forgive, and I certainly don't forget." I told my ex truthfully, avoiding looking into his beautiful eyes.

Those eyes that had stared at me merrily, drunkly, jokingly, sarcastically and, dare I say, adoringly. I couldn't look into his green eyes and not remember the day we met, the day I gave him my virginity or the last day I saw him.

I couldn't tell those eyes to leave me alone.

I could, however, tell the owner of the eyes to get off my fucking sight.

"Please, Alex, I'm not asking to get together with you again. I just want to be friends; you can be positive I won't try anything with you, I promise. I'm over you."

Oh, great, Adrian, throw my heart in a shredder, why don't you?

That's right; he did.

Ass.

"Great. I'm glad we're clear on that. Now, really, I want you to leave. I'm not in the mood to talk, and more so with a Monroe. Be gone, or I shall behead you with a fork." that was true enough. It was also amazing the amount of strength one most require for their voice not to crack, their eyes not to water and to put on an angry front.

When Adrian looked like he might argue, I raised a hand and growled a Now, to which Adrian answered immoderately by stumbling away.

As soon as he left I fell quiet, because learning that the man I still loved was over me certainly didn't make the whole being broken into a new world easier.

An hour passed. I discovered that the huge brown thing otherwise known as a door wasn't a walk-in closet, but the bathroom. I showered quickly and pulled on a pair of skinny jeans, beige peasant top and brown boots.

For the people that had been laughing over my miseries: so, I bitched and moaned about annoying tall people, and about really _really_ freakishly tall dudes. People who were very discreet about their hate for being small normally wore heels, but that wasn't my case, despite everything. Secretly, I liked being the size I was.

Again: secretly.

Even if I was showered and ready to go, I stayed right where I was because I had to be realistic; I didn't even know where north was on a normal day.

So yeah, what i did for two hours was lay on my bed and think.

Side note: never be left alone for long periods of time.

Adrian was over me. Jet Steele didn't want me anymore. The man with whom for four weeks I woke up with, laughed with, talked with, mocked at and was loved by. He, Jet

Steele or Adrian Ivashkov was over me, because of Rose Hathaway (and some unknown chick).

My already fragile self-esteem dropped by twenty points.

Sure, I had Latina skin and no frizzy (even if big) hair, no zit, no braces, no hook nose, and straight teeth. But Rose was taller, her body wasn't voluptuous but fit, she had long auburn hair, her skin was lighter, her personality more attractive than mine. The only thing we had in common was that both of us were sarcastic bitches.

Adrian fell in love with her Middle Eastern beauty, as opposed to my Latina prettiness.

Because even if I was positive he'd had a good time with me last summer, I didn't know if he went as far as loving me because... I never asked.

Yeah, I was an idiot, too. I could put that in my resume.

Staring up at the crack on the ceiling, I felt a tear leak, because however strong I might've looked, I was just a scared, heartbroken bitch at the moment.

Every possible adjective for me had to have bitch alongside it.

Another rain of knocks resounded through the small but fancy room, and wiping the tear away hastily, I swung out of the bed, straightened myself and opened the door.

Christian Vozera stood in front of me.

I slammed the door in his face.

Man, did that feel good.

"Oh, come on, Elvie. Open the door." Christian pleaded, and I bit my lip at hearing his nickname for me.

When I was a little kid I loved animals, and sometimes a little bit too much. Christian used to say I reminded him of Elvira, from the Loony Toons, because she loved animals so much she killed them. Elvie was the result nickname for Elvira, and so, that had been the name Chris called me.

I called him Jack, short for Jackass.

I gave in.

"You have five minutes." I hissed at him and pulled him in the room, dumping his lanky frame on my bed.

He turned his puppy dog eyes to me, and I curled a lip.

I hated his 'please forgive me, Alex' face.

"I couldn't tell you anything about us, Alex. Your mom made my aunt and me promise we wouldn't tell you about Moroi and everyone that's involved in it; she thought that it would be really hard for you to deal with, specially because you would've told anyone within a five mile radius," I always was a blabber mouth, "and because you simply weren't ready. I came close to tell you every single summer and winter I came over, but I couldn't tell you because of the promise I made to your mom. I know you're mad and upset, Alex, but this is what was best for you." Christian begged me to understand, to forgive him, to tell him that he was still my best friend.

Then again, I almost never forgave, and most certainly never forgot.

"But you lied to me, Jack, and then you just sent someone to drop the bomb on me. You became Dracosmear's boy toy, and Bitchaway's friend, even after I'd sent you an email telling you how much I hated them. And that was before you could've met them, since that was the summer you didn't come home and Lesbian 1 and Lesbo 2 disappeared. You fucked up." I crossed my arms over my chest, and just stared at him, like I used to do when we were kids and I got mad.

"Oh yeah? Well, you did too! You just left Portland after the summer, you just packed up and moved and didn't even think to tell me where you were going!" Christian yelled at me.

"I was going to, you moron! But seeing as you hadn't answered any of my mails since your aunt moved, I thought it was useless to send you a freaking email! Besides, you know how much I hate typing, so I thought I'd just call you to your cell phone, but surprise, you never answer." I growled at him, throwing my arms over my head and then dropping them to my sides.

Christian was silent, just staring at me with those pretty blue eyes.

"I've missed you, Elvie." Chris finally said, and then his eyes turned tender. I licked my lips, and wiped away a tear that slipped.

Shit, I didn't mean to let Jack see me cry.

"Why haven't you answered any of my mails or calls, Jack?" I finally asked, feeling defeated.

He looked guilty.

"I've been very busy, Alex. So much has happened, you wouldn't believe it. And, well, Lissa... I hadn't told her about you. It felt wrong to go around her back with her not knowing who I was talking to."

I saw red.

No, for real, it was red with black spots in the edges, and I could feel my cheeks getting hot.

I was beyond pissed.

"WHAT THE FUCKING HELL, CHRIS?" I screeched. He cowered back. "YOU MEAN TO TELL ME YOU'VE BEEN FUCKING BLOWING ME OFF FOR DRACOSMEAR FOR A YEAR AND THAT'S WHY YOU HAVEN'T KEPT IN TOUCH WITH ME, FOR FEAR OF GETTING HER PRETTY BLONDE HEAD FUCKING ANGRY?" I roared, my hands clenching into fists and my eye twitching.

He opened his mouth to answer, but when he saw my stormy expression, he shut it.

"Almost fifteen years of friendship, and yet you don't trust me enough to tell me you're a Moroi, that I'm half vampire, that you have a girlfriend who just so happens to be a race's queen, that you control fire. I... I just don't get it, Christian." my lip quivered, the fight leaving me. Christian's eyes widened; he knew I was considerably upset if I called him by his full name. My eyes started to water, and I put a hand over my mouth and squeezed my eyes shut.

I hated letting people see me cry.

Christian knew this, so he got off the bed, went over to where I stood and enveloped me in a hug.

I cried for all I was worth.

I cried over losing Adrian, mom, dad, Jenny, Tasha, and Christian; I cried over the deceit from all the people I loved, I cried because I was afraid of this new life.

I cried for the life I'd never get back.

I cried because life wasn't fair.

Maybe it was ten minutes later or two hours after, but I stopped crying with some effort to find myself lying on my bed with Chris holding my blotchy face to his chest.

I didn't push him away.

He told me about everyone, he told me about what had happened lately and he told me about Lissa.

His Lissa was sweet, if not a bit serious, she was beautiful (I gagged at that), she was charming, smart, compassionate and a great leader. He told me about her power, about her bringing back Dimitri from his life as Strigoi, about Victor Dashkov (I told him I kinda liked the dude -up until he told me about how the guy used his daughter, cause then he was just plain eerie), about her family, about the darkness that had consumed her.

He said that he and Rose barely got along, and it was only for Lissa's sake that they talked to each other; he said they weren't really friends. He said Bitchaway was sarcastic, a great fighter, understanding, intelligent, responsible, and caring.

He told me a bit about Dimitri, and then he started to tell me about Adrian. I almost stopped him, but I wanted to hear.

"Adrian is... Interesting. He's also a spirit user, which makes it hard for him to just be. He normally drinks himself into oblivion so the pain will soothe. He's funny, a little dramatic, a real ladies' man. But, he's hung up about Rose; he fell in love with her hard, but she only has eyes for Belikov. They dated when he tricked Rose into making a deal. She needed money to find Belikov, Adrian wanted a chance when she got back to be with her. It didn't work. Then, last September he met an Alchemist named Sidney Sage, and let's just say she hit him pretty hard. Didn't work, though; her principles were too strong." Chris finished, and he almost launched into another rant about someone else.

I stopped him.

"Chris, I have to tell you something." I began, and I took his silence as him listening. "Adrian Ivashkov and I dated last summer." I said quietly, and felt him go rigid. "I was waitressing, and he came in. God, Chris, I fell in love with him madly. He'd told me his name was Jet Steele, and he was passionate and smart, charming and sweet. He was hilarious and sarcastic, and just so perfect for me. Then one day he just left, no note, no phone. I tried to forget him, but... I couldn't. I still can't." I whispered, biting my lip and hastily wiping away a tear from my eye.

Chris was still quiet.

"Chris?"

"You dated a twenty-one year old spirit user alcoholic, fell in love with him and didn't tell me?"

...

"I thought he was human." was my meek excuse. "And hey, if you'd checked your mail, you would've seen that I did indeed tell you about Adrian." I argued.

I was so bullshitting him; I'd never sent him anything about Adrian, mostly because I was still angry Tasha moved and I wouldn't be seeing Christian.

Just as I hoped, Christian's face showed chagrin when I lifted my head to see.

Crisis averted.

"Again, Alex, I'm sorry. But the fact that you fell for ADRIAN IVASHKOV is a bit perplexing to me. What exactly did you see in him, apart of the pretty face?" Chris asked, scrunching up his face.

What did they consider Adrian to be, a murderer?

"At first I didn't want to date him; I was convinced I wouldn't be good enough for him and that he was just feigning interest in me out of boredom. There was something broken about him. But he pursued me, and despite the amount of times I pushed him away he just kept coming back. He took me out to movies, the fair, restaurants, anything fun within a twenty mile radius... He made me feel pretty for the first time in my life. He told me about how hard it was to quit drinking, told me how much he loved smoking, about his parents and their expectations of him, he told me about his passions and his dislikes. He seemed so... Real. His fears and likes were deep, and he truly believed what he did and said. He told me he'd stop drinking if I asked him to; I told him I wouldn't do that to him. And now, looking at Adrian drunk, reeking of cigarettes, broken, bleak... I don't know who's the real guy. I don't know if I really was just a conquest. I don't know if he really didn't like me. I don't know anything." I said, licking my lips and fighting to keep the tears at bay. I didn't mention his chivalry, didn't mention how sex felt so good and right with him, didn't say just how much we shared.

Christian just stroke my hair.

"Rose really did a number on him, you know. He really fell for her, and she threw his love back in his face. And then Sidney, she started to change him for the best, but when she rejected him for her Alchemist life it broke Adrian all over again. But, I think if you tried hard enough, you could make him fall in love with you again." Christian's voice was light and hopeful, but I shook my head sadly.

"I don't know if there even was a first time, Chris. We never said it. And that he could just leave and not seem the least bit affected the day before... I don't know how much he cared about me. I guess I was just a rebound."

Chris didn't try to give me false hope; he didn't tell me everything was going to be ok, or that Adrian wasn't worth my tears. He understood.

He always did.

"Elvie, I have a request." Chris began carefully, and I waited, hoping he wasn't about to ask what I thought he would. "Could you please behave around Lissa and Rose? You don't have to be friends with them, but you have to remember that she's the queen and my girlfriend, and Rose is part of the royal guard, which in few words mean that if they want, they could throw you in jail."

"Is it always gonna be like this, Chris? Me fighting with Dracosmear over your attention? Fighting to be the most important girl in your life?" I continued, my voice sad and pathetic. "Because I'm not sure I could just give you up, Jack. I can't ask you to end things with Lissa because you wouldn't, because you would cut me off from our friendship for making you choose." I knew him well; maybe too well. "But I can ask you to be fair. Because they hate me too, and they don't have a reason to hate me. They messed with Jenny, Chris, and you know I will never forgive them for that. Your girl and Rose aren't the perfect dolls they seem to be. They're the kind of girls you and I used to mock when we passed them by the street, and that you could just forget it all... I don't get it. I'm sorry, but however messed up it is that I had a thing with Adrian, it's more messed up that you're into a girl like Queen Vaseline. And quite honestly, it scares me that despite fourteen years of friendship, you don't know which girl is more important to you." I said quietly, afraid that he wouldn't deny it.

"Now, that's not fair either, Alex. I love you both in completely different ways. If I asked you to choose between me and Adrian, could you?" No. "I know that Lissa isn't the type of girl you and I thought I'd end up with, but things change. She was the first person to accept me in St. Vladimir, and that means the world to me. I know what they did to Jenny was awful, but there's nothing I can do about it. I'd appreciate it very much if you and her got along, but I know that's hoping in vain. Just like it would be for you to hope I like Adrian; not happening." I frowned; why wouldn't he like Adrian?

Everyone liked Jet; well, at least when he was sober.

I still had a hard time associating my Jet to the Adrian everyone knew. They expected so little of him, as though he was irresponsible, an alcoholic, a smoker, a womanizer and nothing more (that was what I understood from Christian's description).

Had I been that blind, or had he changed that much?

Maybe it was both.

"But J-Adrian didn't trick your brother -hypothetically. He didn't land him in a wheelchair, and he didn't drive a wedge between you two. And, well, more importantly, Adrian and I aren't together anymore; it was over before it really started." I admitted quietly, feeling the pain gripping my heart. "You and Lissa are together like PB&J. And I can sure as hell notice that you love Lissa more than I loved Adrian-" so not true "-but the fact that you and I were friends first is still true. I love you like my own herpes, but I won't compete for your attention, and sure as hell not with Dracosmear. I don't care she's Queen of the Monroes. I don't care Bitchaway is her guardian. What I do care about is you not making me endure her longer than I should." I pushed away from him and leaned against the wall, spreading my legs on top of his stomach so we were parallel to each other.

It was our usual position whenever he went over to my house.

"Okay. You're right." Chris said quietly, turning his head slightly and connecting his pale blue eyes to my honey brown.

That was the same thing he said to me when I told him to stop bitching about his dead parents because it was no use (my vocab was extensive even at six years of age. I'd known Chris for two years, from when he came to visit his aunt in the summer for a month), the same thing he told me when I'd warned him that ice cream did not go with ketchup but he mixed them anyway (he threw up for hours), it was the same thing he acknowledged when I made him help me build a tree house so we had a place to run off to after his aunt caught us making out in his supposedly locked room.

Christian and I went way back, despite him being two years older than me. He was my first friend, my first kiss (when we played spin the bottle when I was eleven), the guy I lost my virginity to (the summer before sophomore year, because we were both positive we wanted the other to be our first), the guy that I went to with boy trouble, the guy that helped me prank my classmates over the summer, the guy that I went to my first party with, the guy that cleaned up my puke after we decided drinking a whole bottle of vodka would be fun.

Good times.

So the fact that he would agree to something so silly but important to me with those words made me smile at him and forgive him for lying -even if I wouldn't tell him until the day before we died.

"I missed you these last two summers and winters. Your aunt was very sad during dinner." I pointed out, careful with mentioning Aunt Tasha, now knowing what had happened.

At first I couldn't believe that my Aunt would've done those things, but seeing Christian so distraught while he told me, I knew it was true. Chris loved his aunt more than I loved her, and I loved the Ozeras a great deal. I knew on the inside Chris was dying as he retold the story, so I didn't ask for many details.

All I knew was that somehow, Rose Hathaway had to do with it, even if not on purpose.

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**So… How was the second chapter? I'm planning for this story to be like ten to fifteen chapters long, maybe more. I promise that if anything, it'll keep you entertained. :) Please tell me your thoughts!**

**Leah C. Drawn**


	3. Dracosmear's True Colors: A Cat Fight

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing. **

**I posted two chapters in a row because I'm lovely like that and I ****_sort of_**** felt guilty for not uploading in such a long while. Enjoy!**

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A week went by and I was still in royal grounds. Chris and I saw each other daily (nightly?), I avoided Adrian at all costs, made googly eyes at Hotkov every chance i got, barely restrained from sneering at Queen Vaseline and glared with disgust at Bitchaway with renewed hate every time we saw each other. All in all Dracosmear and I made SOME progress; that is, until she tried to use compulsion on me.

I was going around the garden, just goofing around with Chris and recalling the good times while Queen Vaseline trailed behind us moodily. Then she called me.

"Alexandra?" as Queen, Dracosmear was more annoying, always calling me by full name (maybe it had more to do with the fact that she simply didn't like me, but whatever) and making stupid requests from me. I turned around and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Dracosmear?" I asked with fake sweetness dripping from every letter. She gave me a strained smile, and stared right into my eyes.

"Would you mind going back to the commons and find Rose? I need to talk to her, and right now she's on break." getting Rose to go on break was like twisting a finger, and then it was like breaking a toe getting her to give up one precious minute with Hotkov.

I stared into her pretty green eyes; yeah, maybe I should go and find Rose, leave them for a while, maybe even get lost and never come back-

Wait.

Those self-depreciating thoughts weren't mine (mine had more to do with my looks).

More so because I never left Chris until I didn't really have a choice.

Queen Vaseline Dracosmear was trying to use compulsion on me so I'd leave them alone.

I let out a murdering high pitched screech, and got up in Bitch's face.

"OH MY GOD YOU FUCKING BITCH, WERE YOU TRYING TO USE FUCKING COMPULSION ON ME SO I'D LEAVE YOU TWO ALONE? WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU? WHY WOULD YOU EVEN TRY TO FUCK WITH MY MIND, YOU FUCKING LUNATIC!" I screamed like a banshee, and almost scratched out her eye if not for one of her guards that was suddenly pushing me back from their precious queen.

"CONTROL YOURSELF!" the guard yelled at me, holding me by the shoulders, and I glared at him with hate. His steely eyes faltered for a moment, but the hardness remained.

I sneered.

I pushed him back with all the strength I had, and he stumbled back in surprise.

"Don't touch me." I hissed, staring into his night black eyes. His eyes held no emotion.

"Don't touch Queen Vasilisa." he replied calmly, and just before I placed a badly made roundhouse kick to his head, a warm hand gripped my wrist and yanked me back.

"Elvie, don't make a scene." Chris begged me in a low voice, his blue eyes pleading and desperate.

I wrenched my wrist away with surprising strength.

"Don't make a scene, you tell me? She tried using compulsion on me, Chris." his face remained the same. I looked behind his shoulder to see Lissa with a controlled face, her eyes and shoulders strained, her discomfort obvious. I looked back at my best friend. "I don't need this, I don't need any of you. This isn't my life, Christian, and you know it." I whispered to him, angry. "You're choosing her over me. You're choosing this life by telling ME to chill." I hissed, my Cupid bow upper lip pulling back into a sneer. Christian just begged me harder to drop it. "I'm done with this life, I'm over it all. I don't know why you brought me from New York, but I'm going back home and I'm getting myself a new gay best friend." I said only to him, and glaring with hatred to the rest of the people, I ran away from the circle of people. Where?

Fuck if I knew, maybe Neverland for all I knew.

That would've been so cool.

"Have you been avoiding me, Alex?" a voice whispered lazily in my ear. I shivered and slapped a hand over my ear; I hated when people talked into my ears.

"Yes. I didn't think you'd notice." I replied honestly; Adrian spent so much time drunk it was a wonder he remembered how to shower. I turned my head to see him frown, and then plunk down beside me.

"Alex, it's impossible not to notice your absences." he smiled good-naturally. I was sitting down in the middle of one of the many endless gardens, with my knees pulled up to my chest and my arms locked around them, my chin resting on my arms. Adrian was now plunked down beside me, leaning back on his hands and reeking of cigarettes and whiskey.

"You told me once you didn't like smoking, that you hated the smell. Did you lie? Because honestly, Jet, it seems like every time I see you you smell of cigarettes and booze."

Adrian's smile was wiped away.

"You called me Jet." he said, and I fought a blush of embarrassment. He sighed then and leaned back, making himself a pillow with his arms. "I didn't lie to you, Alex. Not exactly. At the time nothing soothed my pain, so I only drank and smoked when it was too much again. But then..." Adrian paused, like he wasn't sure of his next words. "When I left you in Portland I was too jumpy, and I needed it to calm down. The alcohol soothed my pain and the cigarette calmed my nerves."

I didn't know what to make of it.

Was he blaming me for his bad habits?

"Oh wow, I feel honored for being held accountable for your future lung cancer." was the only answer I could come up with. Then I flinched, and I was glad my face was concealed by my knees. "I'm sorry. My feelings are just a bit sore right now. I'm guessing you already know what happened." I mumbled, and I heard him sit up.

"Heard you fought like a wildcat." he joked, but I didn't laugh. "I didn't know you and Christian were so close."

I shifted and twisted my head to see him.

"He's been my best friend since I can remember. When you asked me who was my first, I told you that an idiot of a friend -that's Chris." I said quietly, and watched as a dark shadow crossed Adrian's face and then his normal drunken expression was back. "I was there when his parents died. I was there when he was sent to boarding school. I was there when no one at school wanted to be seen with him."

I remembered those days, when Chris couldn't wait to get back home and vent to me how much he hated his school. How badly he was treated. I was the one who he yelled at and cried to, and then -he found the girl he was meant to be in love with and he forgot his best friend.

Adrian stayed quiet, recognizing this moment as one of those times I ranted about everything because I just -needed to.

"And then last summer he didn't come home; he said his aunt and he would be traveling to Russia. It was the first summer we spent apart, and then during winter break I was already in New York. He started losing contact with me when he went to Russia, and then I moved and... Well, you know the rest. I guess it was too much to ask that me and my best friend remained close forever." I sighed mournfully, lowering my eyelids. "I miss him so much, Jet. This Christian -the serious, broody jackass that's head over heels for Dracosmear- isn't the real one, the guy that spent a whole summer with me tepee-ing my nemesis' house because she said I looked fat. He isn't the same Chris that I got drunk with for the first time and spent the night looking at the stars and seeing constellations of poop and angry cab drivers. The old Chris would have NEVER let his girlfriend humiliate me like that." I said with conviction. But then the sadness in me drained, leaving in its wake understanding. "But it seems people change a lot in a year and a half. He changed the most, but I changed too. And now I know when to just retreat. I guess... Just losing contact and resuming life back at home is the best thing I can do." I concluded, and straightened my back to see Adrian just staring at me.

"Your aura, Alex -it's sad, completely sad. I've only ever seen them on mourning people. There's a hint of anger too, you know." Adrian babbled, and I rolled my eyes because -yeah, I already knew that was how I felt. "I don't think they'll let you just up and leave, not you being such a special dhampir. And Alex..." Adrian paused, considering his next words. "You have changed, but for the better. If Christian can't see how great you are, then that's his problem. But you also have to understand that Lissa isn't just 'Christian's girlfriend'; she's also Queen Vasilisa. He can't just stand up for you as though everything was normal. And he loves Lissa, which means that he'll do anything for her."

It was infuriating, to say the least, that Adrian made so much sense... Drunk.

I was pretty sure my psychologist could've said something among the same lines.

Shit, I wouldn't be seeing Frank again in a long time.

Now that was a real bummer -no sarcasm.

"But he's supposed to love me too!" man, was my voice always so whiny and pathetic? "Am I supposed to be a Stepford Best Friend and just let that bitch take over my life?" I retorted, sitting Indian style and leaning my elbows on my knees. "I always knew those two lesbos were trouble, you know. I didn't like Dracosmear or Bitchaway since the first time they strolled in my school. They came in pretending to be Jenny's best friend, and then when they were sure they'd be roommates and couldn't be changed -they dropped her like a gooey Silly Putty. They invited Jenny to all the parties -got her drunk enough to get a good laugh at her and then leave her there. Then one day everything was shot to hell, Jenny tried to leave the party and her supposed friends let her drive away drunk. Jenny crashed against a tree and got paralyzed from the waist down." I chuckled humorlessly, staring at my clasped hands. "I swore to myself if I ever saw them again, I'd kill them slowly with a spoon. My plan failed epically." what a fool I'd been.

Adrian looked affronted.

"Don't you think you're judging them too hard? It was Jenny's fault too for getting drunk."

I really didn't dig Dr. Ishkaliar.

"Of course you'd say that. You're friends with Queen Vaseline and in love with Thorny Bitchaway." saying that was like taking a dagger to the heart and then jumping in a playground, but it was the truth. "And actually, now that I've remembered that part, excuse me, because I need to pack up and find a flight home." I snapped, and pushing myself up I cleaned my hands on my jeans, but just as I went to make the first step a hand went around my ankle and down I went.

Ouch.

"What the hell, Ishkaliar?" I groaned, hugging myself in pain. I turned so I was laying on my back, only to see Adrian leaning his head on his hand and lying sideways.

"You can't go back home, Alex. Not anymore. Not knowing what you are." he informed me, and I glowered with indignation. "And I understand you have this obsession with me being friends with Lissa and not-quite in love with Rose, but you have to let it go. One thing doesn't have to do with the other. You're overreacting, and you know it."

I seriously didn't like a serious Adrian.

"Whatever. I'm leaving Pennsylvania in two days, anyways. I'm going to St. Bloodsucker."

Apparently, Jet didn't know this piece of information.

"What? You aren't staying here in court?" Adrian asked quickly, shooting to hell his laid back façade. I shook my head and shrugged.

"I still have to finish high school. Besides, you know how adamant I am about not getting involved with the law for too long. We don't mesh." I grimaced, remembering that time a police officer found me running away after shop lifting.

I had to spend a night in juvenile jail.

Dad wasn't happy.

Specially when I started hanging out with a screw.

And even more when I was reintroduced to the law last summer.

"Yeah, I can remember." Adrian muttered, and looked at me out of the corner of his eye. I raised an eyebrow; did I have food stuck on my chin or something?

"What? Is my mustache growing back already?"

I said it jokingly, but I was kind of worried about it; it had been more than a week since I waxed it.

God, that shit hurt.

Thankfully, Adrian didn't detect the serious note in my joke, so he just rolled his eyes.

"We haven't talked about last summer, Alex. Not really." Adrian said, and instantly havoc exploded inside me.

Imagine a gas leak, and everyone inside the house panicking and trying to get out because they thought they were going to die but every available exit was locked. Now imagine that those people were little Alexandra Winds, and they were banging around the house that instead of a house, it was my brain.

That was my panic mode.

Of course, on the outside I just widened my eyes.

I didn't want to actually talk it through. Sure, Adrian knew I was mad he just left, but I was also mad at Christian for more or less the same reason (but Jack was supposed to be my best friend, instead he just left me and now he pulled that shit with Dracosbitch). And of course he knew that I'd cared about him on some degree, but it was up to him to assume just how much I cared. He didn't know my exact feelings, if I still had them, if I would ever forgive him, just how hurt I was.

Basically, anything involving nice and longing feelings.

"What about it? We met, we dated, we broke up-" you left me, "-and we both moved on with our miserable lives." and then you met a whore five months later, forgot about me and fell in love with an emotionally unattainable slut.

Good times.

Adrian didn't buy my nonchalant act.

"It was more than that, Xandra. Both in what happened, and what we felt. It wasn't just a wham, bam, thank you ma'am and you know it. I might be drunk more time than I'm awake, but one thing I do recognize are strong feelings."

I wanted to ask him what were my strong feelings right now, but maybe ranting about unadulterated anger wasn't what he wanted.

"Oh yeah? I know what I felt, but I don't know what you felt."

"I know what I felt, too, and I don't know either what you felt." he mocked me childishly, even doing bad jazz hands. He felt around in his leather jacket, and produced a flask; he took a swig from it and placed it back in his jacket.

"Didn't my stupid, useless aura tell you?" I glowered.

"I wasn't paying much attention to auras then."

"Then please enlighten me and tell me what my aura is feeling right now."

"Lust."

Shit.

I knew I shouldn't have been thinking about Hugh Jackman just yet.

"You're wrong. It's hate."

"Yeah, that too."

Silence.

"I'm not ready for this conversation." I said quietly, standing up and staring off impassively at a big oak tree. I brushed off the dirt from my ass, and then stuffed my hands in my jean's pockets.

"It's been a year, Xandra. We have to talk about it." Adrian stood up too, and walked to stand in front of me. I let out a sarcastic snort and turned my head to the side.

"No, we don't. We really don't."

"Well, I want to talk about it!" Adrian exclaimed, and I snapped my head to stare at him full on.

God, his eyes truly were beautiful, even when angry.

"Then too bad I don't!" I yelled at him. Adrian took a step closer to me, and now there was a foot between us.

"Well then too bad I do, Alexandra! There were two of us in that relationship, not just you!" his words were like a slap to the face. Because even though I knew he was right, that I was being selfish in not wanting to talk about something that affected both of us, in giving him closure; his wording caught me, made me angry and hurt all over again, but now out of a different feeling:

Jealousy.

"Why do you care so much, anyway? You forgot about me a month later, Jet! You just jumped at the first slut you saw and fell in love with her too. You're still in love with her, that Sage, and I'm not stupid. You also have feelings for Rose. So why do you care so much about what I feel, about what I felt?" I yelled back at him, fighting back tears of frustration. It wasn't fair of him to do this to me.

"Because you meant something to me. Because I want to know what I meant to you." Adrian slurred in a surprisingly firm voice, and I found myself wondering just how drunk he actually was. My guess was that the drink of the flask was his third one.

"There's that word: meant. As in, not anymore. I want you to tell me the real reason why you're so interested in my useless feelings." I spoke steadily, and I gave myself a mental pat on the back for my voice not cracking.

"Because I need to know, Xandra. I might have lov-" I stopped him there, gasping.

"Don't. Don't make me believe I was more than a fling to you. Because if you do then you'll break my heart all over again when I see you pining after Rose and Sidney and I can't take it. I can't." I whispered huskily, my eyes watering until the shadow in front of me was a breath away,

"But it's true, Xandra, I think I loved you. I might still love you." I let out one small sob, and then water fell from my eyes, and the next thing I knew Adrian was giving me a soft kiss.

Just like a cliché movie, the skies opened up, and whilst Adrian didn't stop kissing me, he brought his arms around me and lifted me (embarrassingly enough, seeing as he was a good eight inches taller than me), deepening the kiss while I clung to him like a ragged doll.

Just like our first date.

_LATE JUNE, ONE YEAR AGO_

_"Where are we going?" I asked Jet for the fifth time, but Jet just gave me a sexy, broody smirk and shook his head._

_I frowned and dramatically tossed my hair, looking out the window._

_"Don't get mad, Xandra. We'll get there soon." Jet soothed, and my heart thumped painfully in my chest._

_Jet had been flirting and asking me on dates for a week straight, and finally, when his pestering had become too annoying and I was positive he wasn't a murderer, I gave in to him._

_He really was too hard to resist, specially because he reminded me of Chace Crawford A LOT._

_Hot._

_Anyway, seeing a guy like Jet walk through the doors of the miserable little diner in Portland, I was as amazed as the rest of the women population in Oregon that he picked ME to pester._

_That didn't mean that I was going to let him get all cocky; oh no, I played him until he thought I was the catch._

_That sentence made me sound so self-depreciating._

_I already knew a good portion about Jet, and of what I knew, me likey. He started calling me Xandra the third day he came by the diner, and I had to admit I kind of liked it, even if in first grade I beat to pulp Tommy Wart (his last name became the target of bullies until he moved away and begged his parents to inscribe him as Thomas West because living was too painful) for calling me Sandra Dee-Mex (he actually insisted I was half Mexican, even if on repeated occasions I told him my mom wasn't from Mexico) because of my haircut that was a bad curly imitation of Olivia Newton-John's hair in Grease._

_"Fine." I mumbled, and licking my lips I turned to look at him again, just because I could._

_"Admiring the view?" Jet asked cockily, flashing me another one of his disarming smiles. I rolled my eyes, playful._

_"Nope; just thinking how absolutely disgusting that pimple looks on your chin." I mused, and the car actually swerved when Jet rushed to check his chin on the mirror. Thankfully, he gathered his wits quickly, and I laughed at him for a good ten minutes._

_"Stop laughing at me, Alex!" Jet snapped, but he really didn't seem too angry. If anything, he looked amused at me. Thing was, just when I was ready to stop laughing, I'd snort, making me laugh harder._

_I swallowed down my laughter, and my eyes literally watered when I didn't laugh after letting out a last unladylike snort._

_"Ok, I'm done now." I said, trying to pull a straight face. Jet smiled, and suddenly the car stopped moving._

_"Good, cause we're here, little devil."_

_We were in front of McDonald's._

_Now, I wasn't a picky, romantic or ungrateful person, and I was thankful that Jet was actually bothering with my sarcastic ass, but..._

_Huh?_

_I tried very, very hard to hide my perplexed expression, but Jenny had always told me I was an open book, and Jet watched in amusement as I tried to hide my emotions._

_"Don't worry, Xandra, I'm not taking you on our first date to McDonald's." but even if he said that, he made a great emphasis on the word to, so I just let him lead me inside the tall building._

_Only we didn't start making line, and instead Jet lead me to a door that said 'Employees Only' and kept on, but nobody stopped us. We started going up dark, funky-smelling stairs, up one floor, two floors, three, four, five... The sixth floor was a roof._

_I let out the breath I'd been holding, and ran to the edge of the roof, where I could see the beach and ocean rippling in soft waves. In the middle of the roof was a plastic picnic table, with McDonald's food on top and a large bottle of wine (too weird seeing as we were eating junk food) in the middle. There was about an hour left of day, and the summer breeze was delicious._

_I turned slowly to find Jet leaning against the doorway, very James Dean with his leather jacket and Doc Martens even if it was the summer and I was wearing shorts, converse and a 'Don't Piss Me Off: I'm Running Out Of Places To Hide The Bodies' red t-shirt._

_I wouldn't say he looked nervous, per se, but he didn't look as cocky as always._

_I put his mind at ease when I smiled big and ran towards him and hugged him tight._

_"Thank you so much, Jet, this is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me." I whispered into his ear, kissed his cheek and let go._

_His cheeks were tinted a bit pink, and I bit my lip to keep from laughing._

_"Come on, old man, we've got a fancy dinner to eat." I teased, and grabbed his hand, pulling him to the picnic table._

_We talked about everything for the following two hours. He told me his favorite thing to do was paint and draw, and when I asked him what inspired him, he said the beautiful things that reflected emotion. I was a bit confused by this, but didn't push for more; if someone didn't willingly give out information, it was for a reason. He said that his parents held very high hopes for him, which apparently bothered him because he felt that every time he disappointed them they stopped caring about him just a little more. He lived in a very weird place, he told me, and everyone important was to be treated as royalty. He told me about his great-aunt, and how even if a bit pretentious and annoying, he loved her because she was the only one that pampered him and thought him great despite his reputation. He told me how the last months had been dangerous for him._

_I told him about Jenny. Told him about a best friend of mine, whose name was Jackass, and I told him about how everyone at school was a bit weary of me on April's Fool Day; I told him I'd only had one other boyfriend that absolutely sucked at kissing, I told him my first everything was an idiot of a friend, told him that Jenny had two really tricky friends, but apparently harmless. I told him all my parents expected of me was that I didn't land in jail for the second time, and that Jenny used to tell me that I was adopted because my personality was so different from the rest's calm state (in which case I told her to bugger off)._

_Jet stopped mid sentence; he help up a finger and laid out another hand, palm facing up, and a few seconds after that, I felt a drop falling on my forehead, and then another one and other until it was raining buckets of water._

_Jet and I didn't wait in guzzling down the wine that was in our cups, and he put under the table the bottle of wine._

_But the night wasn't over._

_A little bit of a lightweight, I had a nice buzz going on, and laughing, Jet and I started jumping and dancing and just having fun in the rain._

_I even went as far as singing off-key 'I'm singing in the rain' at the top of my lungs._

_We stopped after a while. We were sneezing and trembling, but we weren't too cold, and smiling goofily at each other, he ran over to me and crushed me in a hug. He lifted me until I had my tiptoes on his feet, then he leaned down and kissed me._

_It wasn't magical. It wasn't shocking, and there were no fireworks. But my heart raced and I never wanted the moment to stop, because his kiss made me feel pretty and alive, like I finally knew what it was I'd been waiting for my whole life._

_Then I sneezed on his face._

_PRESENT DAY_

Jet's lips were still soft, just a little rougher than a year earlier. Tears kept pouring off my eyes, but thankfully they mixed with the rain and Adrian wouldn't be able to distinguish them. Despite the protest in my mind (WHAT THE FUCK ALEXANDRA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WE, THE VOICES IN YOUR HEAD, COMMAND YOU TO STOP THIS FUCKERY!), the ache in my heart started to soothe, and I moved my shaky hand to trail Adrian's jaw line, trace his ear and then submerge in his wet hair. The other hand clung to his neck, and there was a fire everywhere Adrian touched me.

I'd missed his kisses. Missed his touch, his laugh, his eyes, and as much as it pained me to be the mushy foolish teenager, I'd missed him.

Adrian turned the kiss into a French one when he saw that I wasn't pushing him away, and despite the strong heartbreak I was sure that would follow once more, I let him, because the cold and my year-long broken heart didn't mesh, and as a result I couldn't do anything remotely smart.

I still loved him.

I wanted him to tell me I was the only one for him; that he'd had to leave so suddenly because he knew he wouldn't leave if he said goodbye, and that I was the most beautiful girl in the world. That my kisses were the only ones he liked, the ones he yearned for after a year apart; I wanted him to tell me that he'd only touched me since he left Portland.

But I knew he couldn't tell me any of that.

I knew his heart belonged to Rose Hathaway, that a part of him lay with the Alchemist, that despite him telling me he thought he could've loved me, he was only saying it to get some reaction out of me. I knew he left so suddenly because that's who he was, that Rose and Sydney were the most beautiful girls for him; I knew that the kisses he yearned for were Rose's, which belonged to Dimitri, and I also knew that he'd touched and kissed and made love to Rose. I wondered if every time he touched me he'd imagined it was her.

It was like taking a poisoned dagger to the heart.

Once I was so sure he would be mine forever.

With those painful thoughts in mind, I broke the kiss, and panted as we leaned our foreheads against the other's. I licked my lips, which now tasted of whiskey and just a hint of cigarette.

"You broke your promise, Jet. Twice now." I breathed huskily, the tears still flowing. "First you promised me you wouldn't leave me, and then you promised me that you wouldn't try anything. You broke both promises." I whispered, still pressed tight against him. I gave him one last soft kiss, because they were too good to just leave. Adrian's hands faltered on my waist, and as I pulled away, Adrian took a beat too long to unwrap his arms from around me.

"You never answered my question, Xandra. What did I mean to you?" Adrian's husky voice said, and behind my tears and rain pouring down, I blinked hard once, twice, three times. Then I took a step back.

"You meant to me as much as I meant to you. Your real feelings." I answered cryptically, and leaving him confused, I sprinted away.

I didn't get lost this time.

* * *

**So… You like? You hate it? Please comment! **

**Leah C. Drawn**


	4. Departing: Good Memories of Ishkaliar

"Alex, your plane is leaving any moment now." a guard came by my room for the fourth time, and in answer I gave him a lethal glare.

Couldn't he see I was putting on some eyeliner?

"Peter, this is the last time I say this, so put attention to me: it might seem like I'm going to be late, but I'm never late. I have two minutes left, which is the exact time I have until I'm done. If I'm late, it's completely your fault." I grinned angelically, and with a lone eye-roll Peter my Guardian friend left to wait me by the plane.

I was now leaving to St. Vladimir's, Montana, and I hadn't spoken to anyone the whole while. I took that time to call my family, chat with my friends who were ready to murder me for just up and leaving, updated my Facebook status, and even made a map of the royal grounds.

It was very, very big.

The only people that I spoke to here were the staff and a few Guardians that didn't speak to Rose ever, except for one called Eddie that did in fact get along with her. I met Jill, Dracosmear's sister, and found out she didn't particularly like either lesbian, so I hung out with her despite the almost one year gap between us (she was just starting junior year at court, and I was going to start my senior year at St. Bloodsucker). She said she missed the sun from Palm Springs, where she did sophomore year, and that she had a special bond to Adrian and Sydney Sage (at which point I sort of dropped her as a friend).

She gave me two suggestions for my new school: do not eat the meat rare, and stay on the down low.

I readily agreed, even if keeping a low profile would be quite impossible for me.

Alexandra Wind didn't do things halfway, high school included.

"You see? Right on time, dears." I smiled cheekily at Peter and Frank, who were both standing on either side of the plane's stairs, stock-still.

They rolled their eyes.

Frank started the trip up, and just before he disappeared in the hallway, I called him.

"Hey Frank!" said guardian turned around, and raised his eyebrow at me. "How's the weather up there?" I called, as though he was really far away. He cupped a hand around one ear and squinted.

"Sorry, I can't hear sprites!" I gasped dramatically and held onto Peter unnecessarily.

"Oh, the pain! To live to hear such insults!" I wailed, and Peter, the downer, made me move up.

As soon as we were inside, I merrily moved to the back, where I proceeded to sit down and plunk my feet unceremoniously on a little table.

"So. What's in Montana? Apart of the hellhole, I mean." I turned to Frank, and he just shrugged his muscled shoulders at me.

"A mall here and there. Nature."

Fun.

"Sounds like a shithole to me, Frankenstein." I grinned at him sweetly, like I hadn't just given him a monster's nickname.

Frank frowned at me but half-heartedly agreed.

After a few awkward minutes of me staring at Frank like a creeper (you know the deal: wide eyes, flared nostrils, pulled back lips in a way-too-toothy smile and eyebrows raised to the hairline -I looked sexy) the plane started moving, and a few seconds later we were rising in the pretty air.

Suddenly, a toilet flushed in the front of the plane.

Out came Adrian.

My good mood was shot to hell.

I turned to glare frostily at Peter and Frank, and at least both had the decency to look busted.

Because they knew.

"I liked you two. Not anymore, traitors. Brace yourselves next Halloween, because I'll be there to trick or treat both your asses." I hissed, and watched as Adrian cheerily made his way to where I sat on the fancy seat. There was another one beside me, in front of me a fancy table, and then two seats facing me. To my right was the hall, and then Frank and Peter were facing each other in the seats mirroring mine.

Adrian sat next to me.

I turned my icy glare to him.

"What are you doing here?" each word was curt, angry and reflected my feelings.

Motherfucker didn't even flinch.

"I'm going to St. Vlad's. They love me there, and they need someone to overlook feedings. Apparently some ruckus is going down there and feeders are saying and being told things they shouldn't, so I graciously offered my services to the academy." Adrian said, and two questions popped up into my ADD brain:

What are feeders, and what does he mean saying and being told things they shouldn't?

And,

Does this plane have sodas?

Of course, these two questions were apart of the obvious question, which went as follows.

"YOU'RE GOING TO ST. BLOODSUCKER WITH ME?" I screeched, feeling the hair on the back of my neck stand up and goose bumps to erupt on my arms.

Adrian just nodded with a lazy smile.

I glared hard enough for his smile to slide away.

"Aye. And staying in the facilities, too."

I couldn't believe my ears.

Then I remembered he was a royal, and could pull enough strings to do this successfully.

I hated being common people in that moment.

"Well, then, remember this during your stay: I will not stop doing stupid shit just because you're there, you will not talk to me and if it's absolutely necessary you do, nobody can know we're acquaintances. Also, please do not stalk me." I required sweetly, and Adrian barked out a laugh.

"Keep hoping, honey. Stalking is my specialty." he smirked cockily, and I fought with myself not to swoon at that special smile of his.

"I really wish you'd rot in hell."

"Such awful thoughts from such a lovely head of curls." he mocked, and for the first time I noticed he did not slur or smell like a bar.

"You're not drunk." I stated, and noticed the dark circles under his eyes, the mess his hair was that for once was like that not because he styled it that way. I looked at him worriedly.

"Sometimes I like giving my lungs and liver a break." Adrian joked, but then a dark shadow passed over his face. "And other times, the drinks aren't enough to drive the craziness of spirit away."

I bit my lip; I couldn't be mean to a demented guy.

"I'm sorry I can't help you with that, Jet. I truly am." I said honestly, because however much he'd hurt me, he didn't deserve pain.

"It's not your fault, so don't apologize. I've lived with this for some good six years, there's nothing I can do about it."

I frowned, and my hand, unauthorized, reached out to touch Adrian's bags under his eyes. He closed his eyes briefly, feeling my massage, and after a few seconds I snatched my hands back, and clasped them together on my lap.

"You said Dracosbitch was a spirit user, too. How does she handle it?" I asked him, settling back into my seat. Adrian paused.

The guardians frowned at my name for their precious queen.

"Well, at first she took pills, but that kind of shut off her power. And now, she's just learnt to deal with it all -she's very powerful, which is why she's still alive. And Lissa has Rose and Christian supporting her... My mother's in jail and my dad isn't too fond of me nowadays. I guess it's hard to deal with all this when you're alone."

We'll that made me feel like shit for avoiding him.

My guilty thoughts showed on my face.

"Hey, don't worry. I get why you were avoiding me. Besides, you get used to the loneliness. The downside is you grow used to those methods of soothing pain and craziness. I've earned this, I guess." Adrian's voice was sad, and I was quickly growing uncomfortable at this sad and melancholic Adrian.

"Do you remember that day you took me on a date to the beach, and it was raining?" I asked him suddenly, lowering my voice so Peter and Frank wouldn't hear.

They were too busy playing poker to care, anyway.

Po-po-po-po-po-po-po-po-po-poker face.

"Yes..." Adrian trailed off, probably confused as to where I was going with this.

"You grabbed an umbrella from your car, lead us to plastic chairs and sat us down, remember?" I smiled, recalling how hard I laughed when I saw his umbrella was of Spiderman. "You took with you your sketch book and started drawing me, drawing the ocean, drawing every single building within your line of eyesight. When I asked you if it was hard to draw, you said its only hard if you don't like doing it. We stayed there for a while, and a few hours later you were done drawing the background to my back. When I saw it, there was a lonely, small girl in the middle of the rain, and I asked you who it was. You told me to look behind me.

"That little girl had been standing there for a while, right? She was clearly homeless, and was just looking at us from the distance. You called her over and asked her to sit down beside you. We were eating pizza and you offered her a piece, and begged her to let you draw her. She asked why, and you said because beautiful things were obvious to you. You said you knew she had a golden heart. You sketched her eating a pizza, soaking wet and with a blanket we had around her shoulders. She left when you were done, not even asking to see the picture. You drew her smiling, eating the pizza, with every single smudge and dirt she had in real life. But you also drew a crown on top of her head and a golden heart on top of her coat, where her real heart was supposed to be. When I asked you why you did it that way, you said because to you she looked like a princess with a golden heart. Jet... I still have that sketch. Someone who finds beauty in a broken child, someone who sees the bright side of a rainy day and actually gives money to every homeless man he sees does not deserve loneliness, pain, craziness, heartbreak and rejection. You haven't earned anything bad, Jet. Only a spot in heaven, if there is one, and for all my stupid and crazy ways, I do believe in heaven and God. I wouldn't date a bad, irresponsible, demented, selfish guy... Only crazy as fuck."

Adrian looked stunned.

I gave him a small smile and got up to the bathroom.

What I didn't tell him was that that day I realized I was in love with him; I realized it when I was shaking violently because of the cold, seeing as Adrian gave our umbrella to the girl, and he opened my door first before even thinking of getting in the car.

I fell hard.

And I made a splat against the floor when gravity kicked in.

I stared at myself in the mirror; my hair was shinier, my eyes were a molten gold color against the light and black eyeliner, my cheeks were hollowing a bit and finally getting me rid of the baby fat I still had, my Cupid bow lips were glossed over, and my eyebrows still didn't need me to pluck them for the first time ever.

They were nice, arrow shaped, long, trim, and had never even met a tweezer.

The only reason why I'd even fathom plucking a small hair was because a unibrow was growing, if not...

The suspension dots said it all.

Now I really had to pee.

...

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"Shut up, Alex."

"ARE WE THERE YET, CAPT'N?"

"Yes, Ms. Winds, we're here." came the pilot's voice through the huge speaker. I grinned to myself and glared at the three big bullies surrounding me.

"THANKS, HANS! SAY HI TO GRETTA FOR ME, AND GIVE ONE BIG SLOPPY KISS TO COOKIE!"

"Will do, Alex. It was nice meeting you." I may or may not have gone up to the pilot's cabin and entertained him and myself for a while. He told me about his lovely wife Cookie and his snow-white goose called Gretta. I found his life very amusing, and we bonded over our love for cars over an hour give or take.

"YOU'RE THE FIRST ONE TO THINK SO IN A LONG TIME, HANS! I'M OUT, CAPT'N!" I called out to him, and sat back on my seat, satisfied that I had made a new friend. I heard his laughter even from the back of the private jet.

Three curious pairs of eyes met mine.

I shrugged.

"What? I'm a sociable girl." I said, and they all rolled their eyes at me.

The plane started descending.

I started shitting my pants (figuratively, of course -it would've been bad if I literally started shitting myself in my pants).

I wasn't ready to get a start in St. Bloodsucker. Eddie had informed me of what I'd need to do: train to become a guardian, memorize they come first, go to regular school.

The part I was dreading the most was the training; honestly, it sounded painful and I was the proud owner of several -F in Gym class. I sucked at running. I couldn't box for my life.

How was I supposed to take care of a Monroe's life when I could barely get a handle of my own?

Not to mention my pets didn't really survive. Ever.

To those that say Well, pets aren't people, so it's different... They were so wrong. Both were lives you had to take care of, and taking care of a dog was way easier.

"Xandra, you'll do fine."

"Shut up, Ishkaliar, nobody bloody asked you!"

My answers were hysterical. Really.

"You'll have lots of friends."

"I don't care about them, I care about my friends back at home!"

"You'll do great at school."

"I fucking suck at math, and biology, and history, and geography, and gym, and Home Economics, and physics and chemistry and English and French! The only one I'm acceptable at is lunch, and even then I normally get kicked out of the cafeteria for starting food fights!"

"You'll excel at training."

"I freaking fall just from watching a basketball bounce! I broke my hand once putting on the gloves for boxing!"

"The food is great."

"No it isn't, the only kind of food I like is junk food! I hate blood!"

"You'll get kicked out of St. Vladimir's soon enough."

"I-" I stopped. I had no argument for that. I smiled. "Yeah, you're right."

I calmed down.

Peter and Frank stared at me as though I grew another head with Medusa-like hair.

"Take a picture, craziness doesn't last too long." I snapped at them, and they shut their jaws and looked the other way.

The plane touched the ground.

I was ready to barf.

the door to unload opened, and Adrian stood up with Peter. They unloaded the aircraft.

I was clutching the seat like a cat clutched a tree branch just before it fell to their death (one of nine).

Frank grabbed me by the waist, threw me over his shoulder and carried me out the plane.

I screamed and kicked the whole way down.

Kind of like how my descent to hell would be.

"OH MY GOD, ABUSE! RAPE! MURDER! FAMINE! HELP! I'M BEING ABUSED BY FRANKENSTEIN! LET ME GO! LET ME GO! LET ME-"

He let me go.

I fell on my ass on the grass.

It hurt like a mother giving birth to Siamese twins.

Naturally.

Ouch.

Air left me, and for a few seconds I just popped open my eyes and stared.

Then I remembered breathing was essential for survival.

And I started laughing like a maniac.

Which, as luck would have it, was what I was.

After a few minutes of crazy evil laughter, Adrian lifted me up and scrutinized me.

"Did you drink something in the plane?"

"Nope. This is me nervous."

"Huh." he murmured, and walked by my side as we went in the academy, Peter trailing behind us and Frank going back in the plane.

We were lead into an old fashioned building, into a large waiting room and finally, Adrian pushed me into the Headmistress's office.

The traitor left me alone.

"Miss Wind, we were expecting you. I trust the flight went well?" Headmistress Kirova smiled, but I didn't really like her smile.

It creeped me out.

"Yes. Hi." I muttered, shuffling nervously. She waved a hand at the chair in front of me.

"Please, sit." it was more of a command, so I obeyed.

I kept repeating in my mind that it wasn't good to look like a troublemaker in a new all-vampire school.

"Miss Wind, your school transcripts just arrived a few hours ago. You're originally from Portland but moved to New York, correct?" I nodded; her pleasantness slipped away bit by scary bit. "I am concerned with your report cards, both in conduct and academically. Miss Wind, every single professor comments that though charming, you like wreaking havoc, making food fights, playing pranks and in general to cause trouble. And then in your grades, you're on the verge of failing every single subject except for drama, in which you have an +A, and Physical Education, in which you have a -F. You are aware you'd be a guardian, aren't you?" I nodded, kind of embarrassed at my transcripts.

"Yes ma'am." I answered, calmed now. Her meanness was actually comforting. This was comfortable ground; being reprimanded by the school principal.

"Normally, we wouldn't admit a student that has your transcripts. They're shameful, if I'm honest. However," Kirova hesitated, and then continued. "However, the royal court has personally asked us to keep you here, despite it all. It has been a personal request from the Queen, and well, we can't really say no to her."

I was more than surprised; Lissa hated me. Why would she help me?

Of course. To keep me away from Jack.

Duh.

"We'll let you in, of course, but there are certain... requirements, expected from you, if you will. For one, you must bring your grades up if you want to graduate. Second of all, you'll have to receive extra training classes to catch up with your classmates; they'll be before classes, during your lunch hour and after classes during two hours. After two months, depending on your progress, we'll take out the lunch hour classes. Obviously, you will have to behave yourself. I don't want to hear you're giving trouble. Do you understand?" she looked at me from under her glasses as she wrote down on a piece of paper; I looked at her frozen.

"B-But when will I sleep?" I sputtered out, but she didn't answer. "Understood." I sighed.

She nodded once sharply to herself and out down her pen. She pushed up her glasses and looked at me with here beady little eyes.

"There's another matter, Miss Wind. We understand your mother is human and your father is Moroi, but you have no idea who is your birth father." I flinched but nodded. Easy there Kirova, wouldn't want to be too sensitive. "Now, that is an issue... For you. If you decide to divulge this information, then rumors will spread and this will make it harder for you to integrate. So please, Miss Wind, do not say you are daughter of a human and a vampire, for it will cause unwanted scandal. Also, do not say that you only just found out you are a Dhampir. If you wish you can say you were transferred from Virginia's academy."

Did she just bloody call me an abomination?

I smiled tightly and nodded.

Whatever, old harpy.

"I'll keep that in mind, Headmistress Kirova." I said stiffly, and she squinted her beady little eyes.

"I do not like sass, Miss Wind. So please, do not use it with me. You may leave, my secretary will tell you where to go."

And I was dismissed.

Going out of her office and to the reception desk was kind of painful, because some students were lingering in the office, possibly waiting to be chewed out, and they gave me weird looks because they'd never seen me before. I just stared at them hard enough to make them uncomfortable and look away.

I was awesome.

About twenty minutes later, I found myself in my new dorm room, which happened to be on the second floor. I didn't have a roommate because there were so few shitpir women novices, so I had the fugly room all to myself. My bags had been dropped off in the reception, so dragging them here had been a pain in the ass. The only advantage was that it was breakfast time, so the only people here were the dorm matrons. I already had my schedule, and this was my first class:

Advanced Guardian Combat Techniques.

In other words, Motherfucking Ouch.

* * *

**Thoughts? All good, I hope?**

**Leah C. Drawn**


	5. Bloodsucker Academy: An Adventure

Seeing as I really wasn't big on eating in the first place (except for lunch, where I could scarf down an elephant) and I'd been excused from my morning training lesson, with whomever it was, I finished unpacking in the time that I had left before my first lesson.

The unpacking was over quickly, seeing as I didn't have much clothes.

Instead of following my instincts and plopping down on the bed to sleep, I just explored my dorm (except for the boys' side, cause I wasn't allowed in) and the common areas.

Ten minutes before the first bell was supposed to ring, I ventured outside to find where my next class would be. I found the gym easily, where the teacher was already propping everything up.

Oh, God. Punching bags, gloves, ropes, weights, rinks...

It was like a torture chamber.

I tried to be unseen to the guardian, but as luck would have it guardians seemed to be really perceptive of their surroundings. The thirty-something dude gave me a smile (he was kind of hot, so I kind of swooned) and motioned me over.

I went there with baby steps.

"Come on, I won't bite. Miss Wind, is it?" he asked, and I gulped loudly. I hated being the new kid.

"Yeah, that's me. You're..." I trailed off, kind of embarrassed at not knowing his name. Damn schedules that don't give you the name of your teachers.

"Oh! Right, sorry, I'm so rude-" I'll make you behave, bad boy. "-my name is Guardian Drozdov, I'm going to be your teacher for Guardian Combat Techniques." he smiled brightly, and my sleepy brain only processed this:

Why in this mother-loving world is this guy smiling so much while I haven't eaten breakfast?

Ok, so I lied. I didn't go down to breakfast because I was a chicken shit; in reality, I was like an endless pit when it came to food. I was normally cranky when I'd been deprived of a meal.

"I have a question." I raised my hand like there was actually somebody else in the room begging for his attention. He motioned for me to speak with an amused face. "What if I totally suck at anything involving strength, stamina, agility and fastness?" I smiled sarcastically, and he laughed at me as though that question was absolutely stupid.

"Then you will have to keep repeating my class until you can graduate with those characteristics. Any guardian has to be all of those, it's not an option." he said, and I gave a long internal groan.

It sounded like this:

OHHHHH GAWWWWD GET ME OUT OF HEEEREEEE!

A bell rang.

Shitpirs poured in, all laughing and wearing gym clothes similar to mine.

They all stopped to get a good look at me, like I was some kind of science project.

I gave them my best bitch face.

Suddenly, their friends were more interesting than me.

Good.

"Well, Miss Wind, it seems you're going to be meeting your classmates." he said pleasantly, which caused my eye to twitch. "CLASS! ASSEMBLE!" Guardian Rusk blew his whistle, leaving me half deaf seeing as I was standing beside him.

Every single kid just stopped what they were doing, faced the front and stood still.

Cool.

"This is a new student, her name is Alexandra Wind, I hope you make her feel welcome." he began, and their gazes landed on me like I actually asked them to. I refrained myself from pulling another bitch face. "Now with that introduction out of the way, please make teams of two. Except for you, Petrovskaya, I own your ass. Come here." Rusk boomed, and I cringed.

A hot guy (they had a lot of hot guys in here) stepped up, and I was a goner.

He was taller than me by a foot, he was toned and his tight shirt showed off a six pack. He had night black hair kind of flopped down, sexy jaw line, tanned skin, long, straight nose, emerald green (if i actually knew the name of stones) eyes, and straight, white teeth that made for a killer smile.

Oh, god, my panties went poof.

Immediately, my bad mood vanished, and my nerves turned into confidence.

Petro strode across the room confidently while his classmates made groups and started fighting each other and doing all these moves that looked too painful to describe.

"Miss Wind, how much training have you had?" Rusk asked me, his nice facade now gone, replaced with this harass dude that I decided I didn't really like.

"It's between useless and hopeless, my training. Meaning none." I smiled sarcastically, and Petro refrained from snorting.

Rusk was impressed.

"Nothing? Seriously? Where you went they didn't give you special classes?"

"I flunked out of P. E. They wouldn't have given me special classes for cooking class if I had asked."

"Who flunks out of P. E.?" Petro asked, obviously perplexed. I gave him the stink eye.

"Your mom." I snapped, frowning. Petro held back a grin, while Rusk just gave a disappointed sigh.

"You're gonna be one of those students, aren't you?" he said, and I gave a sheepish grin.

Yeah, I was.

"Petrovskaya, meanwhile just show the basic stuff to Miss Wind, will you?"

Petro didn't look too happy to be stuck teaching a mostly useless seventeen year old girl.

"Ok, so what do you know about guarding?" Petro asked, crossing his arms over his sexy chest. I shrugged.

"I don't get the question."

"When guarding a Moroi, what is the first thing you have to remember?"

"That my jeans are expensive and I shouldn't let blood get on them."

"Almost." he humored me, and I smiled to myself. "No, it's the saying we Dhampirs have. They come first."

...

"As in, the voices in my head?"

"As in, Moroi." he looked at me as though I'd been living under a rock all these years, and for them, I had. "If you're guarding your Moroi, and your child and sister are there when Strigoi attack, who do you save?"

Well, that was easy.

"My sister, cause I don't plan on having children."

"NO!" he yelled at me, but the sound was lost in the wrestling noises of other Shitpirs. He looked horrified. "You save your Moroi, every single time, Wind. Your duty is to put everything in the back-burner that doesn't regard your charge!"

Why, when you put it that way.

The rest of the class was spent with similar rants from Petro (he didn't like my nickname for him, specially when I found out his name was Sergei) and me just playing it off with a stupid comment when I didn't know an answer. At the end, I had got myself a new best friend.

The rest of my classes until lunch were... Different. Students seemed curious, and while I restrained myself from doing something that would get me kicked out of class, it didn't mean I couldn't socialize with everyone and learn about the gossip that went around.

Then I met Jessica Zeklos.

She was like hell on earth, in a good way. She bumped into me in the hallway, and then yelled at me that I had to watch where I lead my microphone head to (ya know, cause of the big curly hair). I yelled back at her I wouldn't have crashed into her if I hadn't been so busy looking at her witch nose.

The yelling lasted for a few minutes, then Petro came and told us to knock it off.

We both watched his marvelous ass retreat, looked at the other, and laughed.

"Jessica Zeklos." she grinned, her blue eyes shining with mischief.

"Alex Wind, pleased to make your acquaintance." I smirked back, not only my smile but face a symbol of mischievousness.

She looped her arm through mine and lead me into the cafeteria.

"So where are you from, Windy?" Jessica asked as we waited in line.

Jill was right; the meat looked extra rare in here.

"Hell." I answered, snatching up a yoghurt. I set it on my tray and looked over the food; it was disgusting. Everything was healthy. Jessica snorted, muttered an agreement, and asked again. "Portland, I told you."

Jessica, apparently, sat with the popular crowd, which were most royal Moroi.

There was Jason and Wendy Badica, Lina Dashkov, Adam, and Reina among others, and of all of them, the only ones that seemed to be worth knowing apart of Jessica were Adam and Reina.

I particularly did not like Lina.

Her comments ranged from 'Oh my God!' to 'OMG, did you like, hear?' and honestly, I felt like I was losing brain cells every time she opened her mouth. Jason and Wendy were the epitome of boring; they sat there listening and just interrupting to make a rude comment or two.

They were twins. Boredom ran in their blood.

But Adam... He was like my soul mate, like my brother from another bitch, the peanut butter to my jelly and the alcohol to my orange juice; we just got along.

Our introduction went like this:

"Hi, I'm Alex."

"Adam."

"Where's Eve?"

"In the bathroom."

"Will I get to meet her?"

"Not likely, she doesn't like freaks seeing her."

"Then why can you see her?"

"Because I'm normal."

"Why would she want to see you then? To know how to do better next time she has a world of children?"

"To know she did something right in this world."

"Arrogant much?"

"It's not arrogance; I just have an easier time accepting I'm good at everything than others. Actually, I'm the only person good at everything."

"Hm, yes, I see. Including being arrogant? You do a jimmy dandy job in that, Eden."

"Everything means everything."

"What about at pooping? Are you good at that?"

And that was the start of a twenty-minute long banter.

Best lunch of my life.

"Xandra, oh Xandra!" a voice called in a high falsetto, and speeding faster, I tried to lose him from my tail. Goddamn Adrian.

He caught up with me quickly enough, grabbed my elbow and dragged me down a path that lead into the woods, where he sat me down on a fallen tree trunk.

"What do you want? I have to get going." I glared at him, watching as he gracefully sat down beside me.

"And do what? Homework?" he cackled, like it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. "We both know you won't even look at the text books; I bet the first thing you'll do is stash your notebooks under your bed." a funny look flashed through his eyes, and I thought I heard him mutter 'so unlike her'.

I knew I shouldn't have let him know of my lack of dedication to school.

"You have two minutes to talk, after that I'm going back to my dorm." I snapped, feeling stupid for being so predictable.

"Fine. I heard you made friends with Jessica Zeklos." I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms over my chest. He was still standing, so now his belt was in my line of eyesight, which made it tedious how much I had to look up.

"Your point is?" I muttered, pushing back a curl that wanted to get in my mouth.

"She's the younger sister of Jesse Zeklos; they're both royal, and none of them good news."

"Creative parents, huh? Jesse and Jessica Zeklos; oh, please don't spend too much time thinking up their names." I mocked, and put a hand to my heart. I lowered both arms and leaned back on them, allowing me to look up more comfortably. "What do you mean by not good news?"

Adrian rolled his eyes and huffed.

"Fine. The year before last, before a Strigoi attack at the academy, Jesse started tormenting Lissa, and as a result the bad inside her because of spirit consumed her, and Rose had to take away the shadows, almost driving her nuts. Please, Alex, be careful when I tell you that you do not want to get involved with Zeklos' crowd."

I was... Confused.

"I still don't see the point. If anything, you're encouraging me to befriend Jessica, and if I meet Jesse, him too. Because as you should know by now, any enemy of Dracosmear and Bitchaway is my best friend. I'd prefer them to be gay, cause I already promised Christian my new best friend would be, but I can make do with only the part of them being the lesbos' enemy." I smiled angelically. Adrian huffed again in exasperation.

"Alex, don't be obtuse." I bet he was so bored that he was reading a dictionary and found out that word. "You're gonna get hurt."

I fixed him with a glare.

"Me, Alexandra Wind, get hurt?" I asked rhetorically. "Oh, please, Jet. The only thing capable of hurting me is-" You. I broke off, then started again. "I won't get hurt. She's only just becoming my friend. I need friends to survive this hellhole." I stood up, brushed my hands over my jeans and looked up to meet his eyes. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to beautify myself with sleep." I said, smiling at Adrian's confused face.

"Alex, the sun won't rise for another two hours, and curfew is until three hours from now." he spoke, but even as he said it, I could see memories flash back to him.

"Yes, well, if you'll remember, I do have this thing called 'Alex Can Sleep At Any Time Of The Day And For Fourteen Hours Straight'. I'm offended you forgot. Don't you remember that day in your hotel? We went to sleep at midnight and I woke up at two in the afternoon-" after having woken up a few hours before for morning sex "-and it seems the only downside was that I was starving."

Even remembering how hungry I'd been made me hungry.

Adrian gave me an amused smile.

"I remember well, Xandra. After all, I did pay the bill for food service, didn't I?" I smiled sheepishly, and licked my lips because honest to God why was the weather so dry?

"I recall you did, Jet. Now, for real, I gotta go snooze, my friend. Tomorrow I start training." I made a face, turned on my heel and walked away.

Just as I was about to go in my dorm building, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned, frowning.

Who dared rob me minutes of sleep?

It seemed I'd be very busy next Halloween trick or treating these assholes.

It was Petro.

"Petro!" I grinned, unable to resist being flirty with such a handsome guy. "What brings you to my side of the road, foreigner?"

"I do have a name, you know."

"Hm, yes, I suppose you do, BeGay." I grinned angelically; in Spanish, if you separated the name Sergei, it sounded like Ser Gay, meaning, Be Gay.

He was not amused.

"I'll come up with a nickname for you, you just wait."

"Is that a threat or a promise?"

"Both. A promised threat, if you will." Petro said solemnly, his eyes narrowed and lips pursed. He looked even hotter.

I grinned; I was anxious to see what he'd come up with.

"So, was there a particular reason you stalked me, or did you just miss my lovely presence?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest and staring up at him. He rolled his eyes.

"Of course I did, Alex. For a moment I thought I couldn't breathe without you." I smiled wider, even though I was being mocked. "But that's not why I'm here. I saw you talk with Adrian Ivashkov." Petro said, but I frowned.

Incognito my ass; everyone saw us. I'd bite his ass (it tastes delicious) later for that.

"So?"

"Just felt that I had to warn you off him; he isn't a good friend, if you know what I mean. His family is in a... disgraceful moment. It would look bad for you to hang out with him." Petro my Father lectured, and I stared at him like he grew two feet and became Chewbacca.

One thing was for Adrian, not-quite-ex love of my life, to warn me off a chick I barely know.

It was a whole other matter for a dude I just met to warn me off a guy I fell in love with, who lied to me, lied some more, broke my heart and that I forgave after much agony (I should've made him beg for forgiveness, damn it).

Alex was not happy.

"I think I'll be the judge of that, BeGay. Thank you for your warning, but I can take care of my ass." after all, it was attached to me. "Now, run along now, BeGay, your flowery friends are waiting." I pointed behind him to his crowd, which were the even more popular dudes and chicks of the school.

Petro gave me a lingering glance, and flashing him an innocent smile, he left.

What an ass.

A very pretty ass to look at, but an ass nonetheless.

I went in my dorm, walked to my room, and collapsed fully-clothed on my super uncomfortable bed.

I dreamt of asses, turtle ninjas, blood and Adrian.

MOTHERFUCKING BEEP, ALEXANDRA, TIME TO WAKE UP! MOTHERFUCKING BEEP, ALEX-

I chucked my phone at the wall.

Okay, yes, I did in fact have a personalized alarm. Yes, I also had a million covers for my phone seeing as every morning it was the same thing -the alarm sounded, I'd chuck my phone to the wall, sleep another ten minutes, get up. Check that the phone was still alive.

Rest in peace, Louis I, Louis II, Louis III and Marie Antoinette (my phones had names, deal with it).This phone was called Fangs.

So far it had survived two months.

Ten minutes later, I rubbed sleep away from my eyes, and looked at the clock that hung over the door. It read six in the afternoon, meaning that I had half an hour to get ready for extra training, then had to train for an hour before hitting the showers and at eight heading out to eat, since classes started at eight thirty.

God, so much to do, so little desire to do it.

Moving quickly, I pulled my hair into a ponytail that actually looked like a bun (short hair, ladies, is not designed for long ponytails), put on yoga pants that made my ass look great, a tank top and tennis shoes that looked hipster. Because I was still half asleep, and I was getting tired of tripping over my own two feet for lack of sight, I went over to the sink of the common bathroom and splashed my face with cold water.

Suddenly, the world seemed much clearer.

I looked at my reflection; really looked. My rounded face was losing some of its baby fat, and my cheekbones and jaw were slowly becoming sharper. My skin had lost the marks I'd gotten from squeezing zits when I hit puberty, and it was clearer, smoother. The bags under my eyes due to allergies were reducing, and I was pleased to see my arrow-shaped eyebrows did not need plucking at my almost eighteen years of age. My brown eyes had grown lighter over the years, so now they looked more like honey with black rims around the irises. The only thing that hadn't changed was the length of my lashes (damn).

I was maturing.

I was... pretty.

I smiled at my reflection, blew myself a kiss (what an asstard), and jogged down to the gym I was supposed to meet my instructor at.

I noticed two things when I got to the gym: the lights were so bright my eyes hurt, and my teacher was standing next to a zombie-like dummy.

And so it shall be called Voldemort.

The teacher patted Voldemort on the shoulder with a cunning smile, and walking over to me he extended his hand.

"You must be Alex," no shit, Sherlock. "I'm Guardian Ron Drozdov, but you may call me Ron." his smile widened.

"Pleased to meet you, Ronny." I smiled back, pumping his hand enthusiastically. "But I'm going to call you Sher instead, short for Sherlock, ok? Does that bother you? No? Excellent! Now, something you might want to know before we start is that I suck so much your grandma could do better than me. Although I don't encourage you to try, because it would be a great hit to my self esteem if an eighty year old lady did better than me at fighting." I gave him an angelic smile, thriving in his dazzled expression. "What's first on the agenda, Sher?"

It turned out to be running. And running some more. Then just because I hadn't run enough, I ran more during our lunch sessions and the after school session.

He had no pity on me.

Specially when I kept asking him where was Watson, and if Watty was currently having an affair with his girlfriend.

He did not like being reminded of his girlfriend's indiscretions. I didn't get his anger, seeing as he was handsome enough to hold on to a girlfriend without her cheating on him.

Saturday arrived in all of its glory. I slept half the day (night, whatever) away, and I didn't move even when I woke up for fear of tearing a muscle apart.

How I could still move was beyond me.

A blasted knock made me get my ass off the bed and open it in all of my crumpled glory.

"WHAT?" I growled, not even done opening the door before Adrian had let himself in my room.

I was pretty sure he couldn't be here.

"Ishkaliar, there better be a damn good reason for you to visit me during these ungodly hours and put in risk my health by making me stand up." I swayed where I stood, and through unfocused eyes I saw Adrian approach me and lead me to my bed.

He shot me a worried look as he sat down next to me.

"Xandra, are you ok? You look like... well, shit." I gave him a sour look; and because he looked so good in the early morning and I looked like shit... I looked to dramatics to answer him.

"Oh, please, don't keep giving me such heartfelt compliments! My heart can't take any more... Truly." I put my hand over my heart, and shooting him another nasty look, I sneezed on my shirt's sleeve. Yeah, yippee, I was getting sick.

I sniffled; so attractive...

I probably had a rat's nest on my head to complete the sick ensemble.

"Yeah, ok, I'm going to pretend you never spoke-"

"Used to it, bro."

"-and tell you what the real deal is." Adrian gave me a stern look meaning that I had to pay attention. I returned it with a drowsy, I'm-on-the-verge-of-dying face. I sounded like Darth Vader, too, what with the snot blocking my nostrils. "The guardians here are not too pleased with you, I overheard them talking. They're saying you're rude and disrespectful, and a horrible student." I tried to look offended, but not even I bought it. "However, they do seem to like you. So you got to step it up, Alex. You're being allowed here, it's not a hotel. You must learn here how to be a guardian." he insisted, and I sniffled harder, swallowing down all the snot blocked in my nose. Ugh. I hated being sick.

I hated Adrian's wording even more, like it was a privilege giving my life for stupid Monroes. I leveled him with a half-hearted glare.

"I don't want to be a guardian, Jet. I wouldn't give up my life for myself, how would I give it up for someone else if need be?" I shook my head. "I'm sorry, but I'm not cut out for a tough school or training and guarding other people. I can barely maintain myself alive, how will I save another human being?" I sighed. "This is who I am, Jet. Take it or leave it. I would much rather be back at home, lazing around, going to Broadway, calling Niza a slut and playing my guitar. I don't want to be here, so don't ask me to try harder." I looked at him straight in the eye so he knew I was serious.

Well, as serious as Alexandra Wind got without being angry.

Hell, even when I was angry I cracked jokes or said insults.

How was it I'd only had two boyfriends again?

"Alex, you might not like it, but it's your new life." Adrian insisted, exasperation flickering in his sober green eyes.

"That's easy for you to say; you won't offer your head on a silver platter for a zombie if your charge is attacked. I know what Shitpirs say; 'they come first', right? Well, I'm not quite sure that Monroes come before saving my own blue skin. I'm not destined for any of this, Jet, and you know it pretty darn well." I sniffled, wiping my hand over my running nose. Sexy.

"Stop calling me Jet, Alex." Adrian suddenly snapped, and I glanced at him with brief surprise.

"Why?" I asked quietly, my eyes searching his face for anger.

"Because my name is Adrian, not Jet. And every time you call me Jet it makes me think of Portland, something you obviously want to leave behind us, but I can't do that if you keep calling me Jet."

I knew what he meant.

Jet represented the man I loved, the summer we shared and the nights we spent together. Calling him Adrian, which so far I hadn't done, meant that Jet really didn't exist, and that one whole summer of my life was spent with a fake guy. To me, Adrian didn't equal to Jet. They just weren't the same person.

_ONE PARTICULARLY STEAMY NIGHT (IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE)..._

_"That was amazing, Jet. I'm amazing." I heaved out breathlessly, giggling as Jet pushed himself off me and rolled us so I could rest my head on his chest, right arm wrapped around his naked waist._

_"Yes, you are." he rumbled with laughter at my self-compliment, as though our sexin' up was way better only because of me._

_Truth was? It was great because it was Jet, and he made me feel amazing. I thought maybe it had to do with the fact that I loved him, and maybe those cheesy magazines were right when they said having sex with the guy you loved made it all the more special. _

_Or I (fine, or he) really was that good at sex._

_Hey, the cards were laid out on the table for every nosy gypsy to see..._

_I tend to ramble in my head after an orgasm, I apologize._

_"So..." I trailed off, and tilted my head up to give Jet an innocent look. He looked back wearily. "I'm feeling kind of very famished, you see, and-"_

_"I'll call room service while you shower." he leaned down to give me a soft kiss, and I smiled against his lips, an army of butterflies fluttering in my stomach._

_Hehe. Butterflies in little helmets and guns._

_I felt like Beavis and Butthead for a second._

_I sighed happily and cuddled closer, ignoring the sex hair I was sure to be sporting and the ache between my legs because..._

_That was round four, ladies and gentlemen._

_It hurt, I wasn't gonna lie._

_Jet started drawing little circles on my waist with the arm wrapped around me, and I reciprocated by drawing smily faces on his happy trail. The irony was not lost within me._

_"What do you want to be when you grow up, Xandra?" Jet asked suddenly, and I tilted my head up again to meet his green eyes._

_I shrugged, a small frown forming between my eyebrows._

_"A professional comedienne that can play the flute and summon a snake out of a basket?" I offered with a smile, and Jet laughed heartily because yesterday while walking me home I saw a lizard, squealed, and proceeded to hide behind him and use my lipstick to ward off the reptilian. "Hmm... I've never thought about it. I don't think I'll go to college, though. Maybe a vagabond." Jet laughed like I just made a joke. I wasn't. "What? I'd be pretty good at that. Seriously, though, maybe I'll break into the music biz or become a writer. Maybe get a stupid degree that won't be of any use to me, like English."_

_Yes, I was a lazy ass motherfucker, get used to it people. _

_How difficult could it be to study English? _

_"What about you?" I mumbled, prepping kisses over his chest. Then, because I was a slut like that, I climbed on top of Jet's naked body and settled myself there. A not-so-little-something was poking my leg, and I had a smile that could rival Satan's. _

_Jet's even breaths faltered and picked up speed. _

_Hells yeah, I felt powerful._

_"How about we talk about our future later?" Jet asked huskily, and thrilled at his wording, I pushed up to kiss him deeply. He rolled us over, and nudging my legs apart, I said one thing before round five._

_"I still want some room service." _

_END OF SEX MARATHON..._

"But you..." I trailed off; if I argued with him on that it would mean talking about Portland, and I sure as hell didn't want to discuss our love life with a running nose.

"But I what, Alex? I'm not Jet anymore, I'm Adrian." it was like he was telling me the contrary of what was expected. 'My name isn't relevant, Alex, I'm still the same guy you met last summer that you let fuck you senseless countless times' was what I expected, or something among those lines. But instead, he was trying to convince me the sweet guy of the previous year no longer existed. I bit my lip so the tears wouldn't fall.

"You're right. You're Adrian Ivashkov, royal Moroi, ex of Rose Hathaway, smoker, alcohol addict and spirit user. Jet Steele was a lie, and I should've realized that sooner. I suppose I apologize for reminding you of a mundane summer full of sex." I took a deep breath, pretending not to see his furious face. I stood up on shaky knees. "Please go, Adrian. I'm not feeling well, and you probably have many things to do."

Adrian was shocked; not only was it the first time I'd called him Adrian, I hadn't said anything mean, called anyone names, made a joke, laughed, used sarcasm or showed displeasure in any way. I even said please, which I only said sarcastically. Just... Asked him to go, and even said he was right.

Maybe I was starting to grow up... Maybe.

"No." I looked at him, barely surprised; of course he had nothing better to do, he probably fucked all of his friends' girlfriends so now no one spoke to him. "I'm not leaving until we talk, Alex." Oh. "You still have a lot to tell me. I've all but laid my soul bare for you; I've told you I loved you, my plans, my edited life, everything I've done, liked and hated. I still don't know your favorite food or band, your plans for the future, about Jenny... I don't know squat, so you don't get to keep kicking me out when I try to talk to you." Jet's voice broke, and scooting back until my back was against the wall, I clasped my hands on my lap and looked down.

He was right, but I didn't care.

"I'm really feeling awful, Adrian; can't we do this another day when I don't feel like Chuck Norris is roundhouse kicking me? Please." there it was that word again; please.

But Adrian remained firm.

"No, Alex, we both know physical pain doesn't affect you enough not to be able to speak." he was right; I once had throat surgery and as soon as I woke up I was singing drunkly. "I just want to talk about last summer. You keep saying that I didn't care for you, and you're beyond wrong. Sometimes you act like nothing hurts you, like you're just watching life fleet by you and nothing troubles you. The only way I've ever seen you is angry and goofy, and most of the time you're bugging people. I need to know how you felt about last summer." Adrian pleaded with me, his green eyes pinning me. He touched my hand, and suddenly my muscles stopped hurting and my cold went away. I frowned, remembering the dark magic of spirit hurt Adrian.

"Things do hurt me, more than you'll ever know. When I was eleven my nineteen year old drug addict brother Roland died in a car crash, and I still hurt every time I think of Rollie and what could have been. It pains me when I think of Jenny in a wheelchair, and it kills me when I think that Chris would choose Lissa over me." I took a shuddering deep breath. Adrian was speechless for once.

"You... Had a brother?" I nodded, fidgeting slightly.

"Half brother, I guess, but still. He's someone I would give my life for, not because duty calls but because he's family. I don't think it's right I should give my life for a vampire when I couldn't give it for my brother." now he knew the real reason of why I was so adamant about guarding a bat. "He'd be twenty-seven last Wednesday, you know. I even bought him a disc before we left New York, just to honor him."

"And how did you feel about me?" Adrian finally asked, and I silently debated on telling him. Finally deciding he had a right to know, I turned to look him in the eye.

"I fell for you in a way I didn't know I was capable. Living in constant pain like I did... Do you know how hard it was to lose Rollie, only see Chris for three months and three weeks a year, and then not see my best friend after six months? Then Jet Steele came along, and I forced myself to stop thinking about the pain. When you left..." I broke off, my eyes welling with tears at remembering the excruciating pain. "The first day I just walked around in shock. Then the second day I was hurt unimaginably. Anger settled in for about a week, and then I convinced myself to let you go, that you were only a fling." I blinked back the tears with little success. "There. You wanted my true feelings? Now you know." my voice broke quite embarrassingly, and the amount of emotions I was feeling were too much. "Did you know that Chuck Norris was once bitten by a snake, and after five days of excruciating pain the snake died?"

There. Feelings dissipated.

Adrian was not amused.

And he was too busy staring at me, probably wondering where the Alex that painted a mustache with sharpie on her face and walked around like that in the mall was.

In answer, it was all Chuck's fault.

"Xandra..." Adrian breathed, reminding me of all those times we'd lie in bed, just cuddling and he'd suddenly whisper my name.

I felt something weird in my stomach; probably just gas, though.

"Yes..." I whispered, dragging the s like a snake would.

"You... You loved me? Truly?" he murmurs, scooting even closer to me.

Panic mode was settling in. I could see it in his eyes, the deep emotion, and I knew I was too weak to resist Jet if it came to it.

"I-" I sputtered, looking through the death roller-coaster otherwise known as my brain for a sarcastic comeback that would kill the moment.

I came up blank.

When Adrian Ivashkov looked at you with smoldering, loving eyes, you let the owner play you like a guitar.

Yes, please.

"Did you?" his eyes hadn't broken their stare from mine, and I swallowed loudly. Come on, Alex, lie...

"Yes." my voice shook, and the next moment his lips were on mine.

This time, he didn't taste of alcohol or cigarettes. He tasted just like Jet did; like mint and chocolate. I shifted so I was straddling him, his hands on my waist and my fingers locked on his brown hair.

I hadn't realized it, but my heart was leaping with joy and tears ran down my face freely now, needing to make him understand just how much I was capable of feeling.

"Jet..." I gasped, and pushed myself closer to him, needing to feel every inch of him.

I loved him...

"Sage..."

... Not really.

Gasping loudly, I fell back from him, rolling to the right and just staring at him like he'd slapped me. That would've hurt way less, actually.

He was staring at me, wide eyed and horrified.

Damn straight he should've been scared out of his fucking peanut-sized mind.

"Oh God, Alex, I'm so-"

"GET. OUT." I growled at him, sliding off the bed and landing on the floor with a soft thud. I pulled my legs to my chest, and just kept shaking my head when he kneeled to my size, trying to apologize.

I glared at him coldly through my tears.

"I mean it, Adrian, leave me. Right now, or I swear to God..." there was more to my threat (that I'd feed him to a baby Wookie and see it rip him apart like confetti), but my voice caught in my throat with tears, and I couldn't finish it. His eyes were even wider, horrified and in pain, but I just shook my heat at him and told him to go. "I shouldn't have said anything. I knew you'd hurt me again." I croaked, and looking at me shell shocked, Adrian strode out of my room, looking at me one last time.

I just sobbed louder.

I let him in again, and what did he do? Call the Alchemist's name. He fucking knew how hard it was for me to open up and be honest about my feelings, and there he went, hurting me again. It had been seven years since I'd spoken about Rollie to anyone, and I just had to let my wall down for an untrustworthy guy. I felt even stupider than that one time I kept asking who had my bag of chips and I had the empty bag in my hand.

The big size chips.

Maybe I just really wasn't meant to be with Adrian. All he ever did was hurt me, and I deserved better than a guy who loved another bitch.

So I wiped my tears, picked myself up, put my walls around me again, and walked out the door to shower and keep on living.

"No, no, he sounds like this." I demonstrated, letting out a sound that was a mix of a dying cow and a bear.

Adam shook his head at me, insisting I had it wrong.

"Chewbacca does not sound like that." Adam glared, his sky blue eyes alive with defiance. He then tilted his head back and let out an inhuman sound.

I was speechless.

He'd sounded exactly like Chewie.

"I'm impressed, Eden, I really am. I didn't know you had it in you." I clapped, still awestruck.

"Thank you, thank you. And now I would like to say a few words..." I punched him in the shoulder, laughing.

It was Sunday, and Adam, Jessica, Reina and I were all in the patio, enjoying the space that let us be weird and surprisingly loud.

Jess and Reina were staring at us like we just pulled the bible and a lollipop out of our noses.

"What?" Adam and I both asked at the same time, looked at the other, and screeched 'jinx'.

We fell silent.

"I swear he wasn't this weird a week ago..." Reina muttered, looking between Adam and I. Jessica snorted.

"He was, but was biding his time. You two are the perfect match." Jessica grinned, and watching our horrified expressions, she laughed.

Adam and I glanced at each other, nodded once, and tackled Jess from her seated position.

Somehow, Jessica ended up on top of me and Adam on top of Jess, and because Rena couldn't resist, she sat daintily on top of Adam's back.

I was heaving and most likely an unattractive purple.

"Where... is...Chuck... Norris... when you need... a roundhouse ki-ck." I'd used the last of my breath saying those words, and instead of wasting oxygen, I wasted my energy by moving around a lot trying to throw the vampires off me.

It wasn't as easy as it seemed.

I felt a pinch on my arm; damn it, I spoke.

Losing felt terrible.

"Get... Off." I wheezed out, and a few seconds later there I was, flattened to the ground and looking like a starfish, staring at the stars in the sky.

Three faces popped into my line of vision, and for a few moments the ringing in my ears didn't let me hear what they were saying.

"... Think she's ok? She's not saying anything..."

"... Fine, all she needs is time to compose herself..."

"Ha! She spoke fi-irst. Rustle? You lost again." I snapped back into complete attention, and glared at Adam.

"I was calling Chuck Norris for help, you asshole. Did you know that Chuck Norris is dead, but death hasn't built up the courage to tell him?" I grinned, holding my hands out so Jess and Reina could help me up. They eyed me warily and took a step back, clasping their hands behind their backs.

Smart girls.

"Well, if it isn't the stupid freaks." a voice sneered from behind me, and turning around like a dog chasing its tail, I saw Lina Dashkov and Katrina Petrovskaya, BeGay's sister, with their arms crossed over their chest. Lina, apparently, was the bitch of the group, with her very own followers. Jess said the only reason she sat with them was because she had a crush on BeGay, and the closest way to him was through his sister.

They (Petro Sr. and Jr.) hated each other with a passion, so I didn't see Lina's reasoning.

I squinted up at her; damn Monroe height.

"Sorry Linen, this is a closed party. Only freaks allowed." I smiled at her sickeningly sweet, and Katy glared at me for her friend.

"What are you even doing, hanging out with the royal Moroi? You're not even a real dhampir." sneered Lina, and with some effort I stood up by myself.

I sounded like a pregnant chick.

Sad, that I reached barely Linen's mustache.

"The kickass I can give you can prove otherwise. Run along, Linen, you need some intense washing." I wrinkled my nose in distaste, as if I smelt something bad.

Her pale face turned pinkish. She was too pale for red.

"You think you're so cool, don't you, with your witty remarks and royal friends? You're just dhampir trash, and that's all you'll ever be." Linen snapped, her lip pulling back in fury and her fangs elongating.

"Oh, whatever will happen to me, now that I know that's how you think of me?" I pretended fanning myself, and Jess and Reina pretended blowing me some air. "Oh, I know! Ignore you and your petty insults. How does it feel Dhampir trash has more class than you?" I smiled, resembling a cat that caught the canary.

Linen gave a high pitched screech, and tried to claw at me but I moved back swiftly.

I was kind of impressed; maybe those extra running classes were paying off, if only in agility.

"Linen, could you make us the great honor of extinguishing yourself? That goes for you too, Petro Junior." I smiled sarcastically at both bitches, and with a glare and flip of their long blonde hair, they were gone.

It was silent for two seconds, and then they pounced on me.

"You're my hero."

"You have real girl balls to stand up to a royal like Lina."

"Please marry me and have my children; that was ten kinds of amazing." Adam looked at me with wide, misty eyes, and us girls immediately burst out laughing.

I put a hand over my mouth, and jumped excitedly into his arms.

"YES! A HUNDRED TIMES YES I WAS ALL KINDS OF AMAZING." I squealed, laughing when he tried not to fall back at my sudden crash into him. "But I won't marry you or have your children, Eden. They might be too sexy for their shirts." I whispered in his ear, and kissed his cheek then jumped back, going over to talk to Jess and Reina.

Two hours later, we were spread out in the field, just looking at the stars now dimming because of the upcoming dawn.

"Do you miss home, Rustle?" Jess asked quietly, all of us too weary to speak loudly. It was like having a hangover, only without the painful part.

I smiled to myself at their new nickname for me; ya know, the wind rustles the leafs? Yeah, that's why.

"Kind of. I miss my family, but it just wasn't home anymore." I shrugged, probably rubbing my shirt all over the dirt. "I do miss spending my mom's money in Broadway, though. She'd always throw a fit when I got back, but it was so worth it." I grinned to myself; we'd never been short on money, and because I didn't spend on clothes and outings (I made my friends pay for my food) I could spend on tickets for the theater, which if we thought about it one way, going two or three times a month to Broadway was cheaper that going out four times a month, paying for food, clothes and transport.

Plus, fighting with me wasn't worth it.

"Broadway?" echoed Reina, like she didn't know what it was. I would've shot up in outrage, but my bones felt like jell-o.

"Yeah, New York's popular theater. It's, like, the Hollywood in New York for plays." I yawned, and snuggled my head deeper in Adam's toned stomach.

Adam was lying in the middle of the garden, with my head on his stomach, Jess's head on mine, and Reina's head on Jessica's almost-anorexic stomach.

When Adam complained he had no 'pillow' and I should give it up, I reminded him his pretty blond hair didn't fuck up if it got plastered to the grass.

In answer he'd patted his hair.

"Hey, Jess?" Reina murmured, tired as I was (but that was unfair because she hadn't run the marathon I had) from the whole week's events.

"Yeah?"

"I like Alex. We should keep her." she murmured sleepily, and we all laughed at her.

I fell asleep quickly; it had been a tiring day, full of debates between Eden and me, trying to keep Adrian out of my mind, and talking shopping with Jess and Reina. I liked all of them, specially when I found out that out of the three of them, only Jess was an actual royal.

Somebody lifted me and took me to my bedroom.

A week later later I was walking out of my last training lesson with Sher. He told me the next day we'd start with self-defense, taking pity on me after the dozenth time I told him I was getting beat to pulp in Guardian Combat Techniques, aka, Motherfucking Ouch. At first he didn't seem to care, but when I got there with a bruise on my ass (I almost showed him, but he stopped me) he finally relented.

Anyway, that Thursday, as I was jogging back to my dorm, Petro stopped me. He even ran towards me, and I could've sworn he was the next David Hasselhof. The only thing missing was the beach and the two girls running beside him, plus him just in swimming trunks.

Hot damn.

I was walking with Adam, discussing why larvae were pretty, and then the next second BeGay was there. I smiled wide, but Adam glared, since apparently, we ran in different circles.

I called that bullshit; guys were just jealous of Petro's hotness.

"Alex!" he called when he was within normal hearing range. I stopped and turned to him, clutching my gym bag and messenger bag tightly, as though I was about to get mugged.

"Yes, Petro?" I smiled, bouncing on the tip of my toes as like Rusk taught me if I wanted to stay on guard.

He reached me, is disarming smile on full display.

Again, my panties went poof.

"Hey, Alex. I just wanted to let you know tomorrow there's a party outside by the woods. You're invited." he smiled wider, and I was one smile away from telling him he could shackle me up to a bed and fuck me seven ways to Sunday.

Actually, it would be a win-win situation.

I pretended considering.

"Booze?" I grinned, and he nodded seriously, as though it was extremely important, "Men?" I teased, and he motioned towards his hot body.

"Ready and running, Miss Winds." he smiled again, and this time, instead of begging him to take me, I leaned in, brushing my hand against his bicep.

"Hm, I guess I'd like to see that by myself." I spoke in a husky voice, and internally blinked in surprise. I'd said that? One look at Petro's face and I knew that indeed had been me who spoke.

I just grinned sultrily.

I probably looked like I needed to pass gas.

"And see you will." Petro cleared his voice and took a step back, looking flustered. "So I'll see you tomorrow?"

I saluted him, even snapping my tennis together.

"Aye aye, capt'n."

Giving me a last lust-after-worthy smile, Petro walked away, and let me to my own thoughts on the matter. They went like this:

I'm going to a part-ay, bitches! I'm going to a P-A-R-T-Y after a month of soberness! Oh yeah girl, I'm going to a fucking party! I'm gonna get SMASHED!

I'd always had very mature thoughts.

It seemed the dude up there hated me. No, He didn't only hate me; He fucking despised my guts so much He wished He could beat me to pulp, kill me with a razor, bring me back to life and then kill me again shoving His holy foot up my ass. And technically, He could, but it was bad for His reputation or something.

Why?

Because the next second Adrian suddenly appeared in front of me, angrier than I'd ever seen him.

And there was this one time I crashed his Audi when I thought he'd wipe me off the face of the earth.

"You're not going to that party, Alexandra, even if I have to chain you up and starve you. Do you understand me?" he enunciated each word carefully, as though I was that stupid, nostrils flared and green eyes desperate.

Well, I was fucking steaming too.

That bitch thought he could just boss me around? And specially after a week of mutual avoiding? This bloodsucking Monroe had another thing coming.

"I understand you. I just don't bloody care." I snarled, pushing him back harshly because he was too close for comfort. "And honestly, who do you think you are to tell me what to fucking do? Chuck Norris? Think again, Monroe." I spat out, my eyes throwing venomous fire (he he) at him and my arms crossed in defiance.

Surprisingly, he didn't back down.

"Well too bad you don't fucking care, Alexandra. That party is bad news, and while I'm here, you're not going to that blasted party tomorrow. Do you get it? Or do I have to spell it out for you?" he hissed back, his handsome face contorting into a scowl that spoke many threats.

Unfortunately for him, I'd never had much patience to begin with.

"No, it's you who doesn't fucking get it. Did it seem to you like I was going to actually do as you say after last week? Huh? Are your brain cells still on summer break, getting a nice tan? Well Adrian, you better call them back into action, cause your common sense alone isn't enough." I snorted sarcastically, basically just spewing stuff I didn't really understand. It was a normal occurrence for me to say stupid shit when I was angry.

However, he just ignored my sarcastic comment just like anybody who knew me always did. Except Chris and Adam; they cool.

"Last weekend has NOTHING to do with this, Alexandra. You know that as well as I do." Adrian snapped back. I paused; something was off.

He was being absolutely serious.

I let my arms hang limp.

"Why don't you want me at that party? And don't avoid answering, cause that'll just make me go." I warned, tongue flicking out to moisturize my lips.

He watched my lips intently for a second before snapping back to the present.

"It's an elite party. But elite in the sense they're inviting only people they think will be of use to them. The ones planning it are the royals, the rest their puppets. You go, and they'll use something against you and blackmail you forever so you'll help them. They have ways of getting you to talk, and if you do go... It's dangerous for you, Xandra. Please, do me a favor and don't go."

Logically, I knew he was only looking out for me. I knew that he wouldn't lie about something so big, and I knew he was worried.

And I would've agreed if he had left out the last sentence.

"Favor? A FAVOR? Ishkaliar, I don't owe you shit at all. And I don't want you to owe me a fucking thing. So actually do yourself a favor and get out of my sight. I do not even want to hear you breathe, you hear me?" I growled furiously, poking him in the chest and setting him back a few inches.

But he wasn't about to give up.

Admirable. Stupid, extremely so, but admirable.

"You aren't getting this, Alexandra. If they want, what they have against you can make you kill someone. That's how big it is, what they know. I'm trying to look out for you." he pleaded, his eyes staring deeply into mine.

"I can very damn well look out for myself. I've been doing it for a long time, and it's worked out fine. Thanks for the tip, Adrian, but I'm tired and I'm going to bed. Then tomorrow, I'm going to the party because you're not my dad and can't make me do shit. So goodnight." or good day, but whatever.

"Then you can expect to see me there too." I let out a frustrated scream, not too loud, but enough for a few lights to turn on. I flipped him the bird and stomped into my dorm.

A few minutes after I'd been in my room, just standing not doing anything, there was a knock on my door. I let out a frustrated sigh and opened the door forcefully.

"What the fuck do you-"

I blinked.

It wasn't Adrian; it was Adam.

"Adam? What are you doing here? It's after curfew, you'll get in trouble!" but even as I said that I was pulling him in my room.

"How do you know Adrian Ivashkov, Rustle?" Adam demanded as soon as he was safe from the form matron, and sitting on my bed. Such good manners.

I frowned.

"Shit. Is everyone I know going to warn me off Adrian? Because if that's what you came to do, Eden, then you know how to walk yourself out." I glowered, but not truly feeling a lot like threatening. My muscles ached, my head hurt like a bitch, and my eyelids were drooping.

"He's bad news, Rustle. Everybody knows that." Adam glared, and I bit back my surprise at his seriousness.

"Why do you say that, Adam?" I asked, walking over to sit almost on my pillow, and pushed back until my back rested against the wall. Adam sat less than a foot away, Indian style, and facing me.

"He's known for his womanizing ways, and his lies. He's not good company, Alex." he said seriously, blue eyes intent on mine.

"I'll have you know I'm a great judge of character, and I can say who is or not a good friend." I spat out. So I had trouble with people telling me what to do; so freaking what? I thought we were clear on that.

He was right, though; I mean, I dated Adrian and got out broken hearted, right? But still.

"How well do you know Adrian, Alex?" Adam asked after a few seconds, and I sighed, twiddling my thumbs. To tell or not to tell.

Oh hell, whatever.

"I dated Adrian a while back, the summer before I moved to New York. He's... Different." I admitted, my face getting hot with each passing moment that Eden did not answer.

He blinked.

"You... Dated the royal Moroi Adrian Ivashkov, nephew of the deceased queen?" I blinked now, suddenly steaming mad. For one, his tone implied he didn't believe me. Second, Adrian had NEVER mentioned his aunt was the previous queen of fucking Monroe's.

"Oh, he's gonna bloody get it." I mumbled to myself, then swung a glance at Adam. "Yes, I did. I had no idea who he was, though, and it's been over for a long time." I muttered, squashing down like a bug the hurt trying to come back up. Down, bitch, no making me cry.

"Well, it's not over to him. I saw how he looked at you, and he's still pining." Adam frowned, a little calmer now but with a different glint in his eye. I let out a humorless laugh, bitter.

"Oh, he's not pining, believe me." I considered his words seriously, though, and continued. "But he's not over me, either, I think. He's just not good with rejection." I bit out, finally voicing what I'd known all along. He didn't love me, or at least not anymore. He loved Rose Hathaway, and I was just the girl he couldn't stand to think had forgotten him. Well, congrats, dude, I've certainly not forgotten or gotten over you.

Bitch.

Adam remained silent, his blue eyes pensive. He blew away a strand of blond hair irately, and finally raked a hand across his face, sighing.

"So, you dated Ivashkov and he's not over you. He'll probably hound you until you give him another chance." he muttered, and cast a sly glance at me, mischievously. "Don't worry, Rustle, I'll protect you from the blue blood pester."

And dear old Eden was back from the dead.

"Oh, please, I would so beat you both blindfolded." I scoffed, pretending I didn't suck major ass in hand to hand combat.

Eden knew this, and he snorted. At me.

I smell blood, cyka.

That's bitch in Russian for you (pronounced suka).

I narrowed my eyes, and faster than I thought I could, I threw a punch to his face, which he caught (as expected) because of his fast-as-fuck Monroe reflexes, but he didn't catch the jab I threw at his gut.

It took a few minutes for Eden to return to his normal pale color.

I smirked triumphantly.

"And that's what you get for insulting my ninja skills, young padawan." I said omnisciently, or in other words, obnoxiously.

Eden just glared and muttered a few curses under his breath.

I ignored him and kept making jabs at his stomach.

* * *

**This is my gift to you, seeing as last chapter wasn't all that long. Thoughts?**

**Leah C. Drawn**


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